The Untold Story of Harry Potter: Marauder's Era
by hpluver394
Summary: Everyone knows Harry Potter's story, but what about the four marauders? How EXACTLY did James and Lily fall in love? Neville and Luna - together at last? And is Draco's son a little friendlier than expected? Read to find out! Story is probably better than the summary. Written by two awesome peeps.
1. The Platform and the Train Ride

**Disclaimer: If I was Jk Rowling, would I honestly be sitting around on my laptop writing fanfiction? **

**A/N: **This story will be written in several perspectives. Nice criticism is always welcome. We want to know what you truly think of this story. Please be honest and make sure to review.

Part 1: The Marauder's Era

Chapter 1: The Platform and the Train Ride

Lily

"Freak," muttered Petunia as we made our way to King's Cross Station. I rolled my eyes as we got out of the car. Ever since I received my Hogwarts letter, my sister had treated me like some alien, as if I did not belong anymore. My parents, on the other hand, were ecstatic, happy for me, even proud. My sister, having received all the attention before, was jealous. Being older, Petunia was used to the compliments thrown at her and being praised by others, but then that all changed when we found out I was a witch. Gone were the times we used to hang out on the swings together and play with Barbie dolls. Now all Petunia could see in my parents eyes were pride, and for once, those eyes were not directed at her. Instead, they were trained on me.

We got to the station and parked our BMW in a lot. I took out my ticket, included in the envelope sent via owl mail. Tuney looked over my shoulders and sneered.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters? Good luck getting to that freak school now!"

As usual, I ignored her and hugged my parents while glaring at my lovely, dear sister Petunia. I combed the station until I spotted a familiar black-haired boy and rushed toward him, feeling completely lost.

"Sev, where is our platform? All I see are platforms 9 and 10."

He flashed me a grin and dove forward into the brick wall separating the two platforms. I looked back at my parents completely confused. They encouraged me to do what Severus had done and walk straight into the seemingly solid barrier.

All around me, a completely different world sounds of old friends greeting each other rang through my ears, mingling with goodbyes from frantic parents of first-year students. Behind me, a huge metal gateway stood where the barrier had been. "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," I read as my parents and Tuney came through. A ginger cat ran in front of me chasing a rat, which was chasing a frog.

Through the smoke, I could see a scarlet engine with compartments upon compartments of people and seats. After a tearful goodbye, I got on the train, looking for my own compartment. Since everywhere else was taken, I decided to sit with a group of boys who looked like they were my age. Little did I know that these boys would end up being nothing but trouble.

James

I looked up as the compartment door opened. A girl with pretty auburn hair and green eyes shyly walked in.

"Is it okay if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

I nodded encouragingly, "Sure, the name's James, James Potter."

"Way to introduce _us, _Jamesy," voiced my friend as of ten minutes ago. "My name's Sirius Black and this is Remus Lupin and that chubby kid sitting over there is known as Peter Pettigrew."

"I'm Lily Evans. Nice to meet you guys."

As Lily took a seat next to Sirius, the compartment opened again to reveal Severus.

"Sevvie!" cried Lily as she hugged him with all her might. "I was looking for you, where did you disappear off to?"

" I got lost. What house do you think you'll be in? Personally I'm going to be in Slytherin."

"Slytherin? What idiot wants to be put into Slytherin? Gryffindor is the best!" I said with disgust.

"My whole family was in Slytherin!" replied Sirius sullenly.

My heart sank, but I chided Sirius all the same, "Blimey and I thought you seemed all right!"

"Well, maybe I'll break the tradition."

As soon as we decided that Gryffindor was the best choice for us, Snape tried to hide a snigger. "Well Lily, hope to see you in Slytherin!" Snape left winking at Lily.

As soon as he left, I turned to Lily, "How are you friends with that stinky greaseball? His hair looks as if he has not washed it in days,maybe even months!"

"Don't you dare talk about Severus like that, James Potter!" screamed Lily as she stalked out, "And for your information, Severus was my first friend and a really good one at that!"

"Feisty, that one," laughed Sirius.

"Shut up, Black! I'll show her!"

Lily

"That prat, James Potter! How dare he insult Sevvie like that!" I fumed silently. This kid was no good. It would be in my best interest to avoid him for life. Him _and_ his gang of friends.

All of a sudden, I crashed into somebody, knocking both of us to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going" I apologetically apologized. I looked up to see a girl with blonde, wavy hair and helped her off the ground. "I'm Lily Evans."

"I'm Marlene Mckinnon, are you a first year, too?"

"Yup!"

"Well we better get our robes on we're almost at Hogwarts man! So psyched." Marlene told me. I was beginning to like this girl as much as I disliked James Potter.

"I hope we're in the same house!"

We got off the train together at a little village off to the side of Hogwarts, better known as Hogsmeade. A giant man was waiting there shouting "firs' years this way."

We walked over to meet him, and he led us over to a few small boats.

"Four ter a boat," the large man told us.

Marlene and I were joined by Sev and one of his friends as the boats set out towards Hogwarts.

Marlene and I took in the magnificent castle that was peeking out over the rolling hills in the distance.

"I can't wait for classes to start!" I exclaimed. "I've been reading the textbooks, especially the potions one, ever since I got them!"

"You little nerd!" Teased Marlene.

In no time at all, we arrived at the castle. As we made our way up the stairs, we were greeted by one of the professors.

"Hello first years, my name is Professor McGonagall and now I will be leading you guys to the Great Hall where you will be sorted." She looked at Jam - No. Potter's messy hair and grimaced. HA! Suck on THAT, Potter!

We entered the Great Hall and looked around in awe.

"Wow!" Marlene looked up the reflected ceiling and the ghosts floating around.

"Wow, indeed!" I replied.

Soon after, our names were called. I got into Gryffindor along with Marlene and those annoying group of boys which included Potter.

James

Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I all ended up in the same house! Score! So did Lily and her new blond friend, Martha or whatever her name was. Sigh.

The days passed by wonderfully-I was now in the place I was looking forward to my whole life , but wow, that Severus kid was annoying. We came to call him Snivellus, because that's what he is: a greasy slime ball. Whenever Sirius and I wanted to have a little fun and cast simple, harmless spells onto Snivellus, he would whine and complain

One day, Sirius and I were walking out to the Quidditch field, when who but Snivellus crossed our path and almost tripped us.

"You'll pay for that," Sirius growled.

"Not likely. At any rate, it was an accident."

"Yeah, right," I chimed in, "you 'ACCIDENTALLY' walked across our path and almost made us make fools out of ourselves?"

I shot Sirius a look, and he knew exactly what I was thinking. We shouted "petrificus totalus" and Snivellus' limbs snapped to his sides so he could not move.

"Expelliarmus," Sirius chanted for good measure, and we pocketed his wand.

Out of nowhere, Lily Evans ran up to us. Is this girl his bodyguard or something? Everytime we so much as lay a finger on Snivellus, she comes to his rescue.

"Do not touch Severus," she commanded us.

"You mean _Snivellus_," Sirius sneered back at her.

"Release Severus from the body-bind this instant." I gotta admit, this girl had guts standing up to the two best-looking guys at Hogwarts.

Sirius and I... we ummmm... have a bit of a reputation. Its no more than two months into our first year and already we are known as the troublemakers, the pranksters. How is this even possible... we just have a little bit of innocent fun. Remus is a lot more serious than the two of us, more of a normal boy I guess, although a bit more studious than most. Peter on the other hand is always good for a laugh.. but not much else.

"Hey Sirius, I have to show you something tonight," I whispered to my friend on the way to Potions class.

"Is it something to make my potion as good as Evans'?" he asked me with a serious look on his face.

Laughing, I replied to him, "I know you want to suck up to Slughorn, the only teacher that does not think us complete lunatics, but it's much better than that, I promise!"

I left him to his thoughts, wondering what kind of thing we would enjoy but Remus and Peter would not.

While everyone else was doing homework in the common room, I brought Sirius up to our dormitory.

"Look," I told him as I slipped my silvery cloak out of my trunk.

"Well, I guess I'll need to demonstrate," I replied to his confused face.

"Now you see me," I said to him, "and now you don't," I finished while putting on the cloak.

Sirius' eyes lit up with mischief. "Do you know how much we could do with that?" He asked the general area I had been standing in.

I pulled back the cloak to reveal a grin. "And that, friend, is why I showed it to _you._"

**A/N: thanks for reading! we hope you have a wonderful day filled with ponies and unicorns and nutella! Gosh i'm psyched for the city of bones movie, anyone else a mortal instruments fan? **

** -M**


	2. A Cloak and Burning Muggle Borns

Chapter 2: A Cloak and Burning Muggle Borns

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! Honestly, M and i have been planning to write this for FOREVER, and it feels good to finally be posting it! We decided to make three books instead of three parts so it is less confusing for everyone. I hope you all are having a wonderful day! You guys don't know how hard it is for me to even write Peter's name without cringing. A big thanks to my dad, Uncle Salty, for reviewing our writing and helping us with terminology! **

** -R (nobaba)**

**Disclaimer: "Oh great gods! Please tell me who we really are!" **

** "You are not J.K. Rowling oh good strangers."**

** "Dang it!" well you heard him folks we are not J.K Rowling"**

**James**

"We should try out that cloak tonight," Sirius whispered to me during breakfast

"Right...and do what?"  
"Well," Sirius started with a mischievous grin, "we can find out where the Slytherin common room is in case we ever need to get in to teach greasy little Snivellus a lesson."

I laughed my signature maniacal laughter and looked him in the eyes. "Let's do it."

Remus left the dinner table early muttering something about homework.

"Did he look ok to you guys?" Peter asked us, "He's been looking kind of down lately."  
"He's probably just a little tired and stressed. We all are," Sirius responded, and the subject was dropped.

Sirius and I left the table early as well, but _we_ were not going to do homework.

In an empty hallway, I pulled out my cloak.

"You think we can both fit?" I asked Sirius

"Oh come on, you were tripping over it back in the dormitory! Of course we can!"

We donned the cloak and moved out into the main hallway, watching for our first victim.

"Finally!" Sirius whispered to me, "Slytherins."

It was a boy and a girl, probably sixth years. We headed down the hallway following behind them at a safe distance. We went up flight after flight of stairs, the girl giggling and holding onto the boy's arm.

I pulled Sirius aside, "I thought the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons," I hissed.

"Well, lets just see where they're going for now... maybe we heard some wrong information."

Sirius and I peeked around the corner.

"Ewwww-" I said to him,

"Snogging," he finished with a face.

"Let's get out of here."

We ran down the stairs, breathless, as we reached the bottom. "Let's never do that again!"

We walked down the halls underneath the cloak when we saw a cat.

"James, is that Mrs. Norris?" quivered Sirius as I nodded.

We silently backed up whilst the cat followed us, taunting us with its meows.

Cornered, we leaned up against a tapestry. Suddenly it opened up and we fell backwards into a hole. Screaming, Sirius and I slid down into a corridor. Completely lost, we looked up and down the hall and saw another tapestry. We went over and examined it. It depicted some fruits with a giant pear in the middle. Sirius stroked the fabric and noticed the pear was super-soft.

"Feel this," he told me, moving his hand up and down on the pair.

We heard a soft giggling noise and a loud creak as a door opened up.

" Woah! This castles never fails to surprise me!" Sirius exclaimed whilst walking in.

We were instantly surrounded by dozens of house elves who stared at us with big, curious eyes.

"Where are we?"

"You are in the Hogwarts Kitchens, sirs"

"Brilliant!" I whispered excitedly.

Having missed most of dinner, we ate to our stomach's content and trudged back to the painting of the fat lady. We fell into the portrait hole, gasping for breath.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Sirius concluded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Definitely!" I agreed, "We should discover what other secrets this old castle holds!"

We walked through the deserted common room and into our dorms, just about ready to collapse onto our beds and relax into a deep sleep.

I noticed something amiss and grabbed Sirius' arm.

The moonlight shone onto Remus' empty bed.

"Where is Remus?" we both asked at the same time.

Suddenly not so tired, we started to make up stories. The most likely explanation? He fell asleep in the library. He DID say that he would be doing homework. Finally convinced we had figured out where our friend was, we fell into a deep slumber, tuning out the sounds of the wolves howling out in the forest.

**Lily**

The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache. Goodness knows how long I was up writing that potions essay for Professor Slughorn. Being muggle born, I was used to writing with pens and paper; not quills, ink bottles, and parchment. I walked down the stairs from my dorm into the ever-so-silent common room. After looking at my watch, I realized I was ten minutes late for breakfast and classes were going to start in another ten! Deciding to skip breakfast, I hurried on over to the hospital wing to ask for some pepperup potion.

I walked in and looked around for Madam Pomfrey. Whilst looking, I happened to catch sight of a student in the bed. He looked kind of familiar and looked ill. Then it hit me; he was one of Potter's friends, Robby or something. As I was wondering what was wrong with that Reggie guy, Madam Pomfrey came up to me and asked me what was wrong.

"I have a bloody headache and I just want it to go away!"

"There, there. I'll just be a second and get you the potion." Madam Pomfrey walked away while I patiently waited for her to return with the potion. "Here's the potion m'dear."

I thanked her and took the potion as I felt the smoke start to rise up out of my ears. One of the embarrassing, but necessary effects of the pepperup.

I left hospital, ears smoking, and made my way to my first class. I passed Sev and a couple of his friends and waved.

"Oy, the mudblood's alight!" Severus' friends laughed at me. Severus just stared.

My face felt like hot coal, and I raced out of there as fast as I could.

On the way to dinner, I cornered Severus in the hallway, quite angry.

"What was that about?" I asked him, "I do not appreciate being mistreated by your friends."

"But Lily, they didn't mean it," he replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Ha! As if. I know they meant it and I don't care what you say about it. Why do you hang out around them Sev? They're no good."

"They are usually nice. Honest."

"But not to me! They are not nice to everyone. Just the _Slytherins_ like you."

"I'm sorry Lily. You're my best friend and I don't want to lose you."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"I promise. It is."

"You'll stay my friend forever?" I asked pleadingly.

"Yes."

"Always?"

"Always," he echoed with a reassuring smile.

**James**

I walked into Transfiguration with Mcgonagall to be welcomed by a wondrous sight. That annoying Lily Evans was quiet! She was hunched over in her chair reading A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. Wouldn't have expected less, though her ears did look a little red.

I went over and took a seat behind her waiting for Sirius or Remus to join me. More and more gryffindor first years came, and right before the door was about to close, Sirius waltzed in and took a seat next to me. But where was Mcgonagall? And most importantly, where was Remus? All of a sudden, a cat with markings that looked like square-framed glasses jumped onto Mcgonagall's desk.

"Ooo Kitty!" screamed Sirius, ever the immature one. I shook my head while silently watching the cat. Out of nowhere, our professor was standing in front of us, wearing glasses that looked exactly like the cat's markings. Was this a dream? Or was it reality? I don't know but I could tell even _Lily_ was surprised and that's saying something. And that day, not only did we turn matches into needles, but we learned what Animagi were. Man, this class was heeeaaavy! We left the class feeling giddy. Down the corridor, I could see a boy with dirty brown hair and a sickly pale face walking towards us.

"Remus!" I yelled while running over to hug him. "Where have you been?"

"Ill."

"Well, let's head to Defence Against the Dark Arts! I heard we're learning about the Curse of Bogies!" I lead the way into Professor Merrythought's room.

After a delightful class, Sirius, Remus,Peter, and I decided to entertain ourselves by playing exploding snap during our break. It was fun until that dreadful Lily decided to grace us with her presence by telling us to _quiet _down as she was _trying_ to study.

**Lily**

Who do those boys think they are? Disturbing _MY _studies. Well it certainly won't be my fault when I ace my exams and they fail. Stupid Potter. Stupid Friends. Where the bloody tulips is Marlene when I need her? Might as well owl my parents now that _Potter_ has decided to ruin my evening playing silly games.

I head on over to the Hogwarts owlery and try to find my owl, Orion. At last, I spot him munching on a dead mouse. After proofreading my letter at least five times, I tie it Orion and send him on his way whilst giving him some owl treats to get him through his journey.

As I was watching him leave, I heard noises of someone else entering. Oh great, it was Sev's friends, Avery and Yaxley. Just what I needed. First Potter, now some nasty Slytherins.

"Oh look it's that mudblood Snape is friends with! Whatcha doin here Muddy?"

"Oh GET STUFFED! All of you!" I say as I push past them on my way to lunch, determined to get some food in my growling stomach.

**A/N: As you can see so far, we are mostly keeping to the original story that J.K. wrote. There will end up being a few minor changes to her story, but for the most part we will just fill in places where she left blanks. Again, thanks so much for reading, we hope you are enjoying our fanfiction so far! ****Oh, and being as this is our first fanfiction (for both of us both separately and together), it would mean SO much if you review it for us telling us what we did right and how to improve so we can make the story even better!**

** -R (nobaba)**


	3. Christmas and Aguamenti

Chapter 3:

**A/N: yeah chapter three is up! woohoo... enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: dang it! I ran out of polyjuice potion. Guess I can't be J.K Rowling anymore.**

**James**

It was almost Christmas, and everyone was happy, well maybe except for Sirius.

"Cheer up mate, it's almost Christmas!" I told him one day.

"I wish I could, James, but I don't want to go back home."

"But why not?" I asked him, curious.

"Well... It's long story. Basically, our family, the _Noble House of Black,_" he said with a sneer, "has to uphold many traditions. We are a proud pureblood _Slytherin _family, and my mother is not very happy with me for ending up in 'good-for-nothing Gryffindor'. All I can say is that I'll have a lot to endure when I get home. And trust me, you don't want to see my mother angry."

Wow. That was the most serious I had ever seen Sirius. He must really be dreading going back to his family. Me? I was ecstatic to go back and ride my broom around the back yard.

"Well.. what if I see if you can come over for the holidays?"

"Really James? You mean it?"

"Sure mate. Of course. I'll post an owl to my parents in the morning."

"I am so glad to have a friend like you, James."

"What about you, Peter? Do you want to come over too?" I asked, turning to the plump boy sitting next to me.  
"I'd love to, James. But I can't," he looked crestfallen, "I am going skiing with my parents."

I looked to Remus, "What about you?"

He looked glad, but nervous at the same time, "I'm r-really s-sorry James," he stammered, "but I have family commitments too."

"Awww.. it would have been cool to have all of you guys over for Christmas. Oh well. Maybe another time."

Peter and Remus nodded in agreement. Sirius hadn't stopped beaming the whole time.

**Lily**

In no time at all, it was time to board the Hogwarts express back to London for Christmas. I couldn't wait to tell my family what I had learned, and best of all, Marlene was coming to spend the weekend! She was really curious to know how things work in a muggle household. I got off the train at King's Cross and looked around. I instantly spotted my dad's ginger hair in the crowd and waved, pushing my trolley along the platform.

"How have you been sweetheart? Did that James Potter boy give you any trouble?"

Having recalled that I had complained to them about a certain messy haired boy in several of my letters, I replied, "I've been trying to avoid him, but it's not that easy when we share the same classes."

"Now, now dear, I'm sure he's a lovely boy once you get to know him." My mum appeared behind my dad.

"That's the thing, mum. I don't want to get to know him. I don't want anything to do with him. Him and his friends are nothing but trouble." I whinged. "By the way, where's Tuney?"

"Oh, we dropped her off at her friend Claria's flat."

"Oh." I said disappointedly. I knew Tuney was jealous of me being a witch, but I didn't think she would miss out on the joys of picking me up from the train station. Guess I thought wrong. I was silent throughout the whole car ride back to our house and my mom saw right through me.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing."

"Well if you say so."

As soon as I walked home, I dragged my trunk upstairs to my room, filled with books. I ran down the stairs tying my hair in a ponytail, and I set the table for three since _Petunia_ was over at a friend's house. I began to tell my parents all that I had learned at Hogwarts in such a short period of time. They seemed pretty curious and excited to know what went on in a school full of magic. As I was cleaning up the plates on the table, who but Petunia should walk to the door.

"What are you doing here freak? Come to ruin my Christmas?"

"PETUNIA CHRYSANTHEMUM EVANS! YOU DARE TALK TO YOUR BELOVED SISTER LIKE THAT? APOLOGIZE THIS INSTANT MISSY!"

"Oh Daddy told youu," I muttered silently.

"I'm sorry freak, just remember who your _real _friend was before you got all freaky." said a disgusted looking Petunia.

"But Tuney! I still love you! I haven't changed! We can still hang out over the summer!"

"Oh really? Now _you're_ the golden one in their eyes and what am I? Nothing! What will happen when I'm with my friends? How will you act? You better not try to win them away from me! You have so much more than I ever had, and all you do is rub it in my face, you WITCH!"

"But mum and dad love us the same! You can't really believe I'll 'win' over your friends! Besides, I've got my own friends now. I don't need to hangout with yours! And Tuney, we can still hang out when they're not around! Nothing's gonna come between us, ok sis?"

"HA. You think I'm JEALOUS? I would NEVER be jealous of my itsy bitsy little sister. Whatever. I DON'T CARE." She screamed, a little teary eyed but hid it well as I watched her march up the stairs and slam her door with a threatening THUD.

Great! Just what I needed! At least Marlene's coming over tomorrow.

**James**

I jumped off the train with Sirius following me close behind.

"James, you're seriously the best friend ever to do this for me!"

"It's the least I could do for my best mate!"

"MUM! DAD!" I called to my parents as soon as I found them in the crowd.

Their faces lit up with smiles as wide as the Hogwarts express was long.

"James!" They called, happy to see me.

I beckoned to Sirius to run with me.

As Mum enveloped me in a hug, she looked over my shoulder and smiled at Sirius.

"You must be Sirius, the boy we've heard so much about," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. She let go of me and reached out to hug Sirius, too.

Dad took Sirius and Mum took me as they took us home via side-along apparition.

After an afternoon of flying, we sat down to a delicious dinner cooked by the one and only Mrs. Potter or as I like to call her, MUM.

"How does the soup taste Sirius? I am trying a new recipe."

"Moreish, Mrs. Potter! All the food that we get at home is from our house-elf Kreacher. He doesn't seem to like me very much, so my portion is always the smallest one, the oldest one, or the one with the bone in it."

"Poor dear. Don't worry, that will never happen here!" My mum assured Sirius. Turning to all of us, she said, "Anyone fancy some pudding?"

She had prepared a delicious pie, chock full of apples.

"So, tell me about all of your other friends boys," mum asked us while we were stuffing our faces.

"Well," I began, "there's Peter, who is a very nice bloke. He just seems to be a little... dull sometimes."

"And then," continued Sirius, "there's Remus. He's a bit dodgy, but all around a good guy."  
"How exactly is he dodgy?" asked Dad.

"Well," Sirius paused and looked at me, "he's always disappearing off to I don't know where."

"Yeah, like once a month," I filled in, "He's gone the whole night, and then appears ill for a couple days before and afterwards."

My parents exchanged a glance.

"He's a good bloke?" Dad asked me.

"Yup! One of the best!" I responded enthusiastically.

"Ok James. Just making sure."

I dove down, anxious to catch the ball before it hit the ground. Because we were not around Hogwarts, we could not use a magical ball, for fear of it escaping.

We were playing some sort of makeshift quidditch. We only had one person per team and one ball that didn't even fly, so we had to make up our own rules. The ball basically served as the quaffle. We had to act as chasers and keepers at the same time! But hey, we got to practice our flying!

"So you thinking about joining the quidditch team?" Sirius asked me.

"What?" I spluttered

"Too scared?"

"You wish. I'm just not good enough!"  
"Says the guy that has scored 90 points on me in 30 minutes."

"You think I'd be a good chaser?" I asked him, the aspiration audible in my voice.

"The best!" He exclaimed, "You do know that there will be an opening for chaser next year right?

"Really?"

"Yeah! Cara Springsteen is seventh year captain this year. Next year, by the time second year comes around, she'll be gone and a new captain will take her place. Maybe you should try out next year!"  
"You know? I might just do that!"

"What about you? You've been pretty good at hitting the ball.. the only way I've been able to score so many points is I'm an amazing flyer!"

"Don't kid me. I could never play quidditch."

"You would be a pretty good beater I think."  
"Seriously?"

"Yes. Is there a beater opening next year Sirius?"  
"Yes there is."

"How do you know so much about the quidditch team then?"

Sirius looked at me and blushed, "Well, I kinda wanted to join the team, but I didn't think I'd have the skill."

"Trust me, mate. If you think I have enough skill to make the team, you have enough skill to make the team, too and enough left over to make Peter a world class player, too.

**Lily**

Christmas break was over as quick as it had begun. On most of the days, Petunia was over at a friend's house, keeping out of my way. It started to get annoying. Why couldn't she just accept me for who I was instead of calling me a freak every single time she stepped into the same room as me. Gosh. Sisters I tell you. So. Bloody. Annoying.

We got into our car and headed to King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express back to Hogwarts, with Tuney whinging the whole way there. Once we got to the station, we parked our car next to a silver Bentley. Who has the money to own such an expensive car? I pushed my trolley through platforms nine and ten with my family close behind. I looked around for any sight of Marlene. I guess she was running late.

"Who's that boy with the messy, black hair over there?" asked Petunia pointing.

"Oh him," I looked to where she was pointing, "That's James Potter. Why would you be interested? He's a "freak" just like me."

"Oh no bother, just that he's kind of cute."

"Bleh!" I gagged. Leave it to my sister to find _Potter_ cute. Well I guess they are both kinda similar, both annoying that's for sure. I smirked as I watched Potter's irritated face whilst Petunia tried to flirt with him.

After hugging my parents goodbye and promising to write to them at least once a week, I boarded the train. I went in search of a compartment and finally found Sev sitting alone in one.

"Hey Sev! How was your Christmas?"

"Pretty good. I helped my mom make potions. How bout you Lils?"

"Nothing much. Marlene came on over and Tuney was avoiding me as usual."

"Aww, that sucks. Maybe you could come over sometime?"

"I would love to!"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Snivellus and Evans." Sirius enters the compartment closely followed by James.

"What do you want _Black_?" sneered Sev with disgust.

"Well _Snivellus,_ we were trying to find a compartment to sit in." replied Sirius with just as much disgust as Sev, if not more.

"Well what's keeping you waiting? If you think we'd *pointing at me and himself* let you sit with us, you are sadly mistaken. Goodbye!" Sev said whilst slamming the compartment door shut.

Well isn't this awkward?

**James**

The days since the holidays have flown by really fast, and now it is less than a month to exams. I'll be fine in most of my classes, but I am kind of scared about Potions. Not that Professor Sluggy is a bad teacher or anything... but he does pick favorites. And Peter, Remus, Sirius and I are not them. His favorite student so far is Lily Evans. Everywhere I go, that girl seems to get in the way. Even her sister is annoying. ICK! Life would be a whole lot easier without her messing everything up. I could torment Snivellus in peace and maybe, just maybe, I'd rise to the top in potions class.

Oh yeah. We have double potions with the Slytherins. You know who the only person better than Evans is? That's right, Snivellus Snape. Those two are the bane of my existence.

"Right. Let's go!" I whispered to Sirius as we pulled the cloak over our heads.

"Where to tonight?" We hadn't found anything special since that one fateful night.

"Well," I looked at him, "There is one place we haven't even begun to explore."  
"Surely you don't mean..."

"The forbidden forest," I finished for him with a gleam in my eye.

We walked out the front doors of the castle and headed towards the forest.

Presently, we came to a hut. As soon as we passed, we heard a dog begin to bark.

"Shut up Claw!" we heard an angry voice growl.

A huge, bearded man, maybe twenty years old came out of the hut and pointed a pink umbrella around. It was the guy that brought us to the boats on our first day at Hogwarts.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Sirius and I remained silent, hearts ready to leap out of our chests.

Why were we scared of a man pointing an umbrella at us? Because he was bloody gigantic.

"Listen," he started again, "you come here right now, and I won't even tell the headmaster that there were students out of bed."

I looked at Sirius, who nodded. This man seemed alright. We took off the cloak in the shadows, and I hid it under my robes. We didn't fully trust the man. We walked towards his door, and he welcomed us in.

"I was always known for getting in a spot o' trouble when I was at 'Ogwarts," he told us, "Care for a cuppa?"

"Um, actually, we should be going," Sirius told him, "but thanks."

He flashed Sirius a grin, "Rule breaking isn't so fun anymore when you get caught is it? But hey, I'm always open to a visit during the day if you want to stop by!"

"Thanks," I said to him, already walking out the door, "I hope to see you again soon Mister."

"Hagrid," he said, "Call me Hagrid. Everyone does."

**Lily**

Today was the day of the exams. I was really nervous and woke up extra early to fit some time to study a bit more. Marlene was still sleeping and so were the other girls in our dorms. I took a quick shower and headed down to the common room, only to spot James and Sirius sprawled out on the couch sleeping peacefully.

Those idiots! Instead of starting to study weeks beforehand, like a normal person, they had tried to cram it all into their heads the night before!

Granted, they probably did not need to study for Defence Against the Dark Arts class, their skill even surpassed mine in that aspect (although you'll never hear me admit it, especially to _their _faces). They'll be in for a treat in History of Magic, that's for sure. Binns rambles on and on and I highly doubt that _Potter _and _Black_ pay attention!

"Wakey wakey," I said to them with a smile.

"Ughhhhh," Sirius groaned.

"It's exam day!" I said to them happily.

"Go away," James told me.

Wow, I was really enjoying mucking about with the boys when they couldn't come up with a good comeback. Suddenly, I got an idea.

"Agumenti," I whispered, as water started to stream out the tip of my wand and drip down the faces of my housemates.

"You CROW!" James yelled at me.

"Calm down James, she's just having a little fun," Sirius announced as he got up smoothly from the couch, flipping his hair and drawing his wand.

"Expelliarmus," I said in a monotone voice as Sirius's wand escaped from his hand as quick as it could. I made a point of catching the wand, and turned on Potter.

"So, James, what's your counter to that?" I turned to face him. He was snoring again. I shook my head in disbelief. Boys.

**A/N: Thanks for reading guy. It means a lot. As of right now we're trying to make the chapters longer so yeah. And thanks InfiniteMaze and guest for reading. Well until next time, cya later alligators.**

**~M**


	4. What time is it? SUMMERTIME!

**Chapter 4: What time is it? Summertime!**

**A/N: ****Glad you peeps have decided to stick around. Sorry for the slow update. R and I have been trying to make the chapters longer and better. Anyway thanks for reading this wonderful story! But before I go, lemme just say that Logan Lerman is such a cutie like OMG I can't even! ahhh. ****(I do not endorse the earlier statement -R) **** anyway hope you enjoy and please leave a review for us below. Thanks!**

** ~M(muffin)**

**Disclaimer: *Looks in the mirror* *sigh* Still not J.K Rowling.**

**Sirius**

"Bye Sirius!"

"See ya Sirius"

"Have a good summer, Sirius!"

"Bye mate"

I was surprised at the amount of people that actually wanted to see me again. That is not the impression I've ever gotten from anyone in my family.

"Bye everyone," I yelled, looking over at my shoulder and waving at all the friends I had made this year at school. My school. Hogwarts.

I spotted my mum chatting amiably to the mother of my distant cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa. Their older sister Andromeda had already been blasted off our family tapestry of honorable Blacks and relatives. Shame, because she was the only one in my family I actually liked.

My mother spotted me and her expression instantly soured.

"There he is. Our little _Gryffindor_," she snarled, "Your father would have been _so _proud."

I glared right back at her, as if daring her to yell at me right now, in front of all of these people.

Of course, the one thing that differentiated me from my family was not a good thing in my mother's eyes. Mothers are supposed to be glad that their kids are finding their own identities. Not this mother. According to her, we all had to be the same and uphold the same family traditions. The old fashioned traditions that had been around for hundreds of years.

"Let's go, Sirius. We have a lot to discuss."

I got home and immediately escaped to my room, dreading what was to come.

I unpacked, just to distract myself and keep my mind off things. In a fortnight, Remus, Peter, and I had all been invited to go round to James' house for a week.

Actually, James invited me to stay with him for the whole summer. His parents wanted me to come home for at least the first two weeks, but I was allowed to stay the rest of the summer at James' place.

The afternoon passed calmly, and I made up my mind that I would stay up here forever. If I never ventured out of my room, my mom couldn't touch me.

It was almost dinner time, and the smells of food were wafting into the upstairs hallway and filtering through the cracks in the door stomach started to grumble.

Almost as if she heard it, my mum yelled up the stairs.

"Can't hide up there forever!" she taunted me, "come down for dinner."

_Thump, thump, thump_. That had to be my little brother, Regulus, hopping down the stairs, just to show me up in front of my mom.

The sounds of Kreacher waiting on my mother and brother reached me through my shut door, as did the clinking of silverware (Black family heirlooms might I add) on plates with the Black family crest stamped on them.

I had to resist. There was no way I was going down there just to endure her yelling all night. Once it started, it would never end.

My mom and brother were talking calmly about his day. He had gone out back and ridden his training broom around a little bit and played with a fake wand. He also found an old locket. He thought it was beautiful and would keep it forever and maybe give it to his future wife, unless something else came up that was more important.

_I. MUST. RESIST._ I told myself, _It seems perfectly harmless right now, but the second I step down there, she'll break._

Still, I could not ignore my lion of a stomach, growling as loud as a field day amongst the kings of the jungles themselves.

Against my better judgement, I slowly tiptoed my way down the stairs. Halfway down, I changed my mind and bolted back up to my room.

_I'm just being a coward. _I decided to go downstairs again. This time, I had to make it.

I sullenly dragged myself into the kitchen, and plopped myself into a chair at the table.

"Sit up straight, Sirius," my dear mum told me. She pointed at my brother, who, of course, was sitting up straight as a pin.

"Yes, mum," I told her, not wanting to aggravate her any more than I already had.

"Thank you, Sirius."

Kreacher came in and served me my food. "There you go, master Sirius," he said with a smirk.

"Thank you, Kreacher," I told him to please my mum.

Regulus continued with his story of his adventures while my mum listened intently and I barely bared it.

This was horrible. How much longer would I have to withstand this?

"So, Sirius," my mum started, dragging me into the conversation against my will and my better judgement, "how was your first year at Hogwarts?"

This was a trap. It had to be. Why else would she actually be talking to me?

"Pretty good. I got to know a few good friends."

"Any Slytherins?" My mother asked, bristling.

"I did get to know a Slytherin very well, yes. His name was Snape, Severus Snape."  
"Are you sure? I have never heard of that family." I had been sure that my mom would have liked my comment.

"Maybe he's from another country?" I suggested.

"Maybe..." my mother echoed, pondering my suggestion.

That was close. She almost lost it for the first time tonight.

The worst punishment is waiting it out when you know it is going to come, and that is what I was up against tonight.

My brother left the table and went upstairs to his bedroom, probably to do something that was expected by a member of the house of Black.

My mother seemed to be of the same mind as me. She just wanted to get the screaming over with.

"Sirius," she began, "you know you are part of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Not only that, but you are the inheritor of all of our Black family treasures. There are certain standards which you are expected to uphold, and I am sorry to say that you are not upholding them."  
"All this because I am not in bloody Slytherin?"  
"DO NOT USE THAT LANGUAGE WITH ME, YOUNG MAN," my mum screamed at me, starting to lose her temper.

"_Sorry, _I mean, _all this because I ended up in Gryffindor?_"

"All that and more, Sirius. You should be a proud Black. Blacks like us do NOT 'end up' in Gryffindor."

"Well, sorry woman, but I had no choice in the matter."

"OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT... 'You had no choice.." OF COURSE you had a choice, you ALWAYShave a choice."

"The bloody sorting hat chooses the houses, not me!"

"What did I say about the language, Sirius?" She asked me, incredulous.

"Well, it's kind of hard to talk normally when your mother is yelling at you," I retorted, glaring my best death stare.

"I wouldn't be yelling at you if you did not deserve it! You ended up in Gryffindor because you did not have the proper mindset for Slytherin. I have worked hard to instill those values into your puny, insignificant brain, and you have resisted with all your might."

"I JUST DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT PERSONALITY, MUM," I bellowed, "IF THAT IS ANYONE'S FAULT, IT'S YOURS AND DAD'S FOR HAVING A SON LIKE ME."  
"THAT'S IT, DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR FATHER LIKE THAT. HE WORKED HARD FOR THE LIFE WE LIVE TODAY, AND HE WOULD NOT BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU HAVE BECOME."

"If YOU are the example parent, then I'm glad I only have one!"  
"You WILL NOT question my parenting skills like that! Anyway, we are digressing. This was not the point of our little chat today. You have made some bad decisions in life and you must now make the best out of the small options you have left to you. I CANNOT have my son being a blood-traitior, running around with the likes of them, or with filthy half-breeds, mudbloods, and children of filth, kinds of people who all end up in Gryffindor!"

"MUM, I will do what I want. I am my own person now. I will make my own friends and decisions and you can't do anything about that."

"Well, if that's how you feel," she started, giving me a surprisingly sweet and stunningly fake smile, "then I guess we are done with our talk. I have had my say." She turned around and made for the stairs.

"One more thing, mom," I called after her receding back, "I was invited to go to my friend's house in a fortnight. May I go?"  
"Humph," she breathed, "and here I was, thinking you were about to apologise. I don't care. I just want you out of my house! You go to your friend's and it'll be all the better for me."

I let the last jab go as I started to climb the stairs after my dear old mum.

"Sirius?" I heard as I passed my brother's room.

"_Yes?" _I asked, a little perturbed.

"That was really mean, what she said to you," he started, trying to be nice.

"OH SHUT UP, REGULUS, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING THAT'S GOING ON?" I looked back to see his eyes glistening with tears. What had I done? He just wanted to be helpful.

I stormed into my bedroom and slammed the door as hard as its hinges could carry it.

**Severus:**

School was over. Sigh. _Won't my summer be fun? At least I might see Lily from time to time._

I couldn't comprehend how beautiful Lily was. Her auburn hair, flowed down her back. Her green eyes. Her voice, so angelic!

_Gahh! I'm Severus Snape! I'm not supposed to be sappy or dreamy!_ Ok Severus, stay cool. I shouldn't have been caring about that mud-ggleborn anyway. Well I should probably stop staring at that brick wall and catch the knight bus. People were giving me weird looks. What would Avery and Yaxley have thought? THE HORRORS! Finally the Knight Bus was here!

"Spinner's End, please?"

"That'll be 10 Sickles." said Ernie

I handed him the coins and tried to get comfortable, but that was nearly impossible. With its weird routes and narrow squeezes, the knight bus could be a pain. I wondered what Lily was up to... She was Probably arguing with her sister.

_Dang it! How could I have been so stupid? She's a muggleborn! Dad's a muggle! I'm a halfblood! I could have like asked for her number on that ring a ling thing we have. Stupid Snape, Stupid. _

"Next stop, Spinner's End."

I Wondered what my parents would be doing._ Oh that's right, ARGUING! Like why can't I have sweet Lily's parents? WHY CAN'T I HAVE SWEET LILY? Oh well, time to get off this bus. Finally! Feels like I've been here all day! Oh wait I practically have, swooning over Lily Evans's eyes. Sigh. _

I dragged my trunk to my front door, and cautiously opened the door. No yelling. That's good I guess. But I certainly did not expect to see my mother knitting. Yes, knitting. Why? Well, looks like I was about to find out.

"Mom, what's wrong? You never knit!"

"Well, your daddy had a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital, the muggle one mind you."

"Is he okay?"

"That's the thing m'boy. I don't know and I certainly don't care about him. That's why I'm knitting. Shouldn't I care that he's possibly dying?"'

"It's okay mother. We'll get through this together."

"You always me me feel better, Sevvie. Why don't I prepare some fish and chips for you?"

"Lovely mother! I love You!

I hugged her and helped her set the table. Soon I can owl Lily Evans and tell her the news. She'd be devastated and come running to my arms to give me a hug. Yeah I liked the thought of that. Smiling, I ate my food while joking with my mother, glad that things were somehow back to normal. Of course I'm sad that my dad probably died, but I guess it's for the best. My mom's happier and I get to be her little boy again.

**James**

"What's a movie?" Peter asked.

"I heard that it's basically a portrait that tells a story. The people in it talk and move around, but it was already pre-determined what would happen. The story is exactly the same every time you watch it," answered Remus, ever the smart one.

"Sounds boring!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah it does!" I agreed, "and to think muggles go and see them for entertainment."

We all laughed. Remus, Peter, and Sirius were over for the week and my parents had let us go into Edinburgh unattended for the first time ever. They had even given us a bit of muggle money to spend to "learn about the muggle world."

The home-improvement store was the most stunning store for us. What were these things that the muggles had thought up? A contraption to keep food cold when they could just charm it to prevent it from going bad, thousands of different machines to cook food when only one is needed, and last but not least, boxes that showed movies in homes. Silly muggles!

The best store, though, was the sweet shop. Sweets of all kinds lined the walls, but they were not the normal kinds. There were no chocolate frogs or pumpkin pasties. Instead, there were odd sweets like mars bars, lemon drops, allsorts, and perhaps the weirdest sweets we had ever seen, candy-coated insects.

"I'm glad to have you all over for the week," I shouted over the roar of the wind whistling through my ears, "It gives me more people to beat at quidditch!"

"Says who?" taunted Sirius, his long black hair floating out on the breeze as he flew by to cut off my line of flight.

"I'm just glad that you two didn't team up and 'offer' to take on the two of us," Peter added gladly.

Sirius and I just looked at him and then back at each other. We chose to ignore the mousy-haired boy for a little bit.

"Relax, Peter, Sirius and James would never leave you out like that," Remus assured him.

The play resumed, Sirius and Peter always close behind Remus and me in points.

Remus and Peter mostly guarded the hoops as Sirius and I played offence.

After a celebratory feast for Remus and me and a loser's compensation feast for Peter and Sirius, we relaxed in the hammocks on my back porch.

The sun began to melt down below the horizon, warm, golden light tumbling off and landing on our beaming faces. As the sun slipped farther away, the shadows began to elongate and thicken.

"This is the life," Remus breathed.

**Lily**

The summer days passed quite slowly actually. Petunia had her friends over from time to time and that was TORTURE! Like I had to stay in my room the whole time so her so called "friends" wouldn't find out my true identity. I'm sure her "friends" only stuck around because she was friends with the "cutest" boy in her school, Vernon. How anybody could find him cute was a mystery to me. Oh wait, it was only Petunia and her "friends" who found him cute. That explained it. At least I get to spend some quality time with my mom and dad while Petunia was "hanging" out with her friends. I should follow her one day secretly when she leaves the house, see what she got up to. I need some adventure in my life. _ I Lily Evans am desperate to look for some adventure and action._

Goodness knows I needed a break from studying and being the "goody-two shoes" of Gryffindor house. Sigh. Well this adventure could wait. I had to go to the park to meet Sev. He said he had something important to tell me.

"Mum! I'm going to the park to meet Sev! Be back soon."

"OK! Stay safe, honey! And keep your wand out with you in case anything happens!"

"Will do, mum! Baiiii!"

I reached the park to see Sev swinging on the swings by himself. I walked over to him and sat on the swings next to him, like we used to before we got into Hogwarts.

"What's up, Sev?"

"My dad."

"What about your dad?"

He's dead, heart attack. My parents were arguing and he got a heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital."

"Aw, Sev! I'm so sorry!" I said as I got up to give him a hug. "I'm sure he was a good father."

"Yeah, the best. But mum didn't really like him. Reckon she only married him because she wanted to go against the "pureblood superiority" and to help the family name."

"Aw, Sev! I'm sure some part of her loved him! After all, they did have you did they not?"

"I guess."

"Well, that's proof enough! Let's get you home now. You can't sulk out here all day!"

"Ok."

I walked with Sev to his house only to spot, yup you guessed it, Avery and Yaxley knocking on the door. But this time, they had brought along a friend. One with hair so blond, almost white. Malfoy. I thought I could silently walk back to my house before they saw me, but alas, it was too late.

"What's the _mudblood_ doing here _Sevvie_?" voiced Avery.

"Yeah! I thought you didn't care about her anymore?" asked Yaxley.

"Wait, so instead of replying to our owls, you've been hanging out with her beyond our _backs_?" said Lucius disgustedly. "And to think that _I _trusted _you_!"

Ok I was mad. No, wait. I was fuming, devastated, hurt. _Sev _told _them _that _he_ didn't care about me anymore? What was I? Some kind of toy? I did not deserve to be played around with like that.

"So you don't care about me? I see how it is! How could you do that to me? I thought I was your friend? And you pick them over me?"

"Lily, It's not -"

"DON'T YOU _LILY_ ME, SNAPE! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS THEM!"

"But Lily, I would never call you a mud- *gags* blood!"

"Whatever, _Severus_. You know where to find me in the future."

"Seeya, Muddy!" cackled Avery

"Stupefy!" I yelled, forgetting I wasn't supposed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. I ran home, crying. Stupid Slytherins. And Snape. We've known each other for so long! Does he really not care about me? As soon as I stepped inside my house, I ran to my mother and hugged her.

"Lily, honey, what's wrong? Did Sev do something?"

"Yeah what did your freak of a boyfriend do now?" butted Petunia.

"He's *hic* not my *hic* boy *hic* friend!" I cried.

"Petunia, go to your room!" my mom said sternly.

I watched her, teary eyed, while she stomped up the stairs muttering complaints.

"Now, dear, what's the matter?"

"Sev's friends *sniff* told me that *sniff* Sev said that *sniff* he doesn't care about me, mom. Why would he *sniff* tell them that? *sniff* He said he *sniff* doesn't care what *sniff* his friends say about me."

"Well, sweetie, one thing you need to know about boys is that they are stupid. They want to look "cool" around their friends so they hide their feelings inside. But look on the bright side, has Sev ever been mean to you?"

"No, I guess not." I said as the tears died down. "

"Well, you have nothing to worry about. If he cares about you, he'll come and apologise. So, go wash your your face and hands and we can eat dinner. We're having pasta tonight!"

"Thanks, mum! I love you!"

"I love you too sweetie pie! Oh, and after dinner you can open the letter the ministry sent you by owl. I haven't read it yet."

Thoughts raced around my head as I slowly savored every bite of pasta.

_Wait ministry? Owl? What's wrong? I don't remember doing anything wro...oh. Stupefy. Man was I in a boatload of trouble. Gosh darn my temper. I blame it on my hair. What if I'm expelled from Hogwarts? I'll never see Marlene again! I'll never be able to attend Quidditchgames and cheer for Gryffindor! Well, one good thing is that I won't ever have to see Potter or Black ever again! Hmm, well home is where the heart is, and that's at Hogwarts. _

After I finished my dinner, I opened my letter.

_Dear Ms. Evans,_

_We have received intelligence that you performed the stunning curse at one minute past five this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area, on a student. The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery requires your presence at a disciplinary hearing tomorrow morning at the Ministry of Magic at 9:00 A.M. in the Wizengamot courtroom. To get to the Ministry, simply walk to the phone booth across from King's Cross Station and follow instructions. We hope you are enjoying your summer and wish to see you here tomorrow sharp at 9:00. Thank You. Hoping you are well._

_ Yours sincerely,_

_Betsy Applesberg, _

_ Improper Use of Magic Office_

_ Ministry of Magic._

The letter turned to ashes as soon as I was done reading.

"What was the letter about, Lils?" asked my dad.

"I have to get trialed tomorrow for using magic outside of Hogwarts."

"Lily! How did that happen? You have always followed rules so well!

"Where is it?"

"At the Ministry of Magic in London."

"How are you supposed to get there?"

"By going into the phone booth across King's Cross Station."

"Magic, I'll never understand."

I chuckled as I told my parents that I was going to bed so I could get ready for my trial.

The next morning I walked out of Wizengamot with a smile plastered across my face._ I'm not expelled! Woopeee! Wait till I tell my family! They'll be so pleased, except for Petunia. Oh well. But, I'M GOING BACK TO HOGWARTS! The minister did look kind of familiar though, I just can't remember where I've seen his face before. Anyway, ONE MORE WEEK TILL SECOND YEAR STARTS!_

**A/N: Siriusly (see what I did there) guys, thanks so much for reading and reviewing this! M and I never thought we'd even get one person that liked our writing! Fun fact about us- M writes "okay" but I (R) write "ok," so if you ever see that word, you'll know who wrote it!**

** -R (nobaba)**


	5. Girlfriends, Transformations & Quidditch

Chapter 5: Of girlfriends, transformation, and quidditch

**A/N: Thanks for reading this story! Much appreciated. Sorry for the slow update and all but R and I really need to finish our summer reading for school which is like soon. As always, please review and tell us what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I plunged into the pool, head first, the water spraying up around me. I sank down into the watery depths, hiding. The searchlights beamed out from all directions, scanning the whole backyard. It wasn't enough. I had to come up to breathe. My head barely broke the surface as a searchlight landed on my face.**

"**There she is!" I heard someone yell, "Grab her!**

**I was roughly pulled out of the pool, dripping water all around. **

"**Admit it."**

"**Admit what?"**

"**That you are not J.K. Rowling and you do not own Harry Potter or the characters."**

"**Ok fine. I am not J.K. Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter or the Characters."**

"**You're free to go."**

**James**

Today was the day to back home, to Hogwarts. I hastily stuffed clothes, textbooks, quills, parchments, and most importantly my cloak of invisibility into my trunk and rushed down the stairs. I couldn't wait to tell my friends some important news.

"James, Sirius, got all your stuff?" asked my dad.

"Yup!"

"Ok, lets wait in the car, mum will be there shortly."

I raced outside and opened the back door of our silver Bentley. We couldn't just apparate to the station because it would be hard to apparate with both of our school trunks. After mum arrived, we drove to the station. I hugged my parents goodbye and got on the train to find Sirius and Remus already sitting in a compartment. Peter hadn't arrived yet so I decided to just tell Sirius and Remus the news I had been dying to tell.

"Hey guys, guess what?"

"What?" they asked simultaneously.

"You know Lily Evans?"

"James, pal, just get on with your story!" Remus said encouragingly.

"Well, she had to go to the ministry for a hearing."

"Evans?! That girl who doesn't break any rule? The one who is always studying?" Sirius wondered out loud surprisingly.

"Yeah."

"So this is the secret your dad told you before we got into the car this morning?" Sirius asked me.

"Yes."

"James, how exactly do you know this?" Remus asked.

"My dad. He's Minister of Magic."

"What? How come he never told us that when we came over to your house?"

"It's not a big secret. Like everyone knows."

"Everyone knows what?" said Peter as he entered the compartment. But by that time conversation had died down and no one answered him. The train had slowly started its journey to Hogwarts. But, I couldn't stop thinking about Lily. What had she done to be trialled at Wizengamot? And most importantly, when did goody-two shoes Evans grow some guts and get into trouble? And where is she now?

"Oy' James, put your robes on! We're almost at Hogwarts and you've been staring into space the whole time. What's on your mind?" asked Sirius as he shook me out of my thoughts.

"Just wondering how Evans got into trouble, because last time I remember, she would cringe at the thought of detention or even getting yelled at a teacher."

"Yeah, I guess. Now seriously James, go put your bloody robes on! We haven't got all day!" Remus butted in.

"Wait, Li-Evans got herself into trouble?" asked Peter completely lost. But by that time the train had stopped and students were getting out. "Ugh! They never tell me anything!"

**Remus**

I had almost a full month to settle back into Hogwarts and my classes before my transformation. I was very lucky, but it's getting to be that time again. I haven't the foggiest notion how I am going to continue to hide my secret from Sirius and James, the two are already onto me. Peter is too unsure of himself to even ask. I need to start making up better excuses for myself. I could tell them that I am having family problems and I need counseling.. Yes! That could be it! They wouldn't want to interfere with that.

The day came. I could feel it coming all night. At 4:00am, about an hour before the moon was full, I crept outside. I ran up to the whomping willow, grabbed a stick, and pressed the knot that opened up the secret passageway.

The branches paused in their whirling and whomping and I slid right into the opening. It closed up behind me, and I went through the secret passage to Hogsmeade.

This was the same place as it led to last year. An abandoned house with expensive furniture. As I had used the house last year, some of the best couches were already scratched up and tattered.

It was coming. I layed down onto the floor as my body began to convulse. No matter how many times this had happened before, it was never any less shocking.

"Ahhhhh," I shrieked, releasing the pent up anger and hurt pressing to get out of my body.

My fingers were sprouting hair, my arms and legs growing thicker by the second.

This was it. It was happening. No matter how much I hoped and prayed every night, nothing ever changed. This always happened to me.

I opened my mouth again and let out a snarl.

I wanted to be back in the castle with my friends, but I couldn't trust myself. _No one_ can trust a werewolf on the full moon.

I thought of my friends again. Especially Peter. Plump, delicious Peter. I thought of how I would rip his tender throat out of his soft, pliable neck.

_NO! I must not think like this! They are my friends, the only people that I like. The only people that like me. I cannot lose them. I cannot do anything to lose them._

But the werewolf part of me began to take over again.

_Nice, juicy young people,_ I thought, _Lots of them, just waiting for me at Hogwarts. I can go have a feast. I can tear into the flesh of their arms and feel their warm blood drip down into my fur, already sticky with the blood of past victims. _

_NO. LUPIN. Pull yourself together. _

_ BLOOD! MEAT! I MUST HAVE SUSTENANCE._

This is what it is like to be a werewolf. An internal struggle, a moral conflict. The day goes on forever and is dreaded for a whole month. You don't know what to do. You don't know what is right and what is wrong. You don't know who is a delicious treat and who is your best friend, your mother, your child. You end so many lives without realizing it. You crush so many dreams without trying. There is nothing you can do to improve your state. You are helpless in the grand scheme of things. All you can do is destroy. All you can do is ruin everything for everyone. It is what is required of you.

_No one_ can change their destiny.

**Lily**

Today was the first Hogsmeade trip this year for the third years. Those lucky ducks. Next year, I'll be able to go too, I guess! I can't wait! I can send lots of wizard goods back home to my parents and Tuney. All of a sudden, I got a lump in my throat and my stomach sank down into my shoes. Tuney. Petunia. She doesn't like me anymore and I cannot do anything to change that.

I got dressed and went down into the common room amidst all the happy third years and above, happy to be emancipated from the Hogwarts grounds this fine Saturday morning. Marlene and I decided to go sit by the lake and get all of our homework done early.

As we were working on our potions essay, we noticed a familiar group of boys walk by. James, Sirius, and Peter all passed us. _ Wait a moment. Something's wrong. 1...2...3..._ I counted. Only three. _Where's Remus?_

I looked at Marlene questioningly and voiced what was troubling me.

"Hmmm... maybe he got tired of hanging out around them. The rest of us tire of sharing the same house!" She said to me with a laugh.

"You're probably right," I told her, "I should stop worrying for his sake."

Still, as I looked at their faces, I knew we hadn't completely solved the mystery. There was something amiss, and I was going to find out what.

Around dinner time today, everyone came back from hogsmeade, laden with goodies for themselves, their younger friends, and their families back home. They also came back full of stories.

The rumors passed all around the hall.

"Did you hear it?"

"What?"  
"The _Ghost_."

"The shrieking."

"The haunted shrieking shack."

Last year, an abandoned house in Hogsmeade had earned the name "Shrieking Shack" because occasionally it would come alive with screams and growls and terrify the villagers in Hogsmeade. The Hogwarts students had never been there on a day that the house was alive. Today was their first experience with it.

**James**

"Hey Sirius, something seems a bit off about Remus don't you think? It's like he knows something but he's not telling us."

"Yeah, let's go find him and get it out of him. He should know the bro code by now: Always tell all your deepest, darkest secrets to your bros."

Sirius and I, eager to find out Remus's secret, raced out of the common room (but not before I grabbed my cloak of invisibility because you never know when you need it) and were about to go out the door when Remus came in. At the same time we were leaving. So naturally we collided and fell on our buttocks. Happens to everybody, even my great, great uncle Brody, who by the way is the most stable person I know. Mental wise and non-clumsy wise.

"Ahhhh! Sorry Remus, so sorry mate! We weren't even in a hurry to find anyone, ya know?" rambled Sirius.

"Sirius, mate, shut up! Well, actually Remus, we were looking for someone. You."

"Me?" asked Remus, "Why me?"

"By the way you look really stressed, what happened?" I questioned.

"By golly, James! Remus has a girlfriend!" Sirius said excitingly. "Tell us all about it, oh good pal! That's what's got you all hot and bothered, eh?"

"Actually, guys-" Remus began.

"Remus, you sly wolf!" Sirius interrupted as Remus blanched, "How could you not tell your best friends?" Sirius interrupted.

"It's not what-" Any color left in Remus' face drained out as he tried to explain.

"We must celebrate! Kitchens, here we come!" I said as I led the way even though it was way past curfew. Sirius and I dragged a protesting Remus and galivanted away to the first floor corridor near the astronomy tower.

"Wait just a hot second guys, how do you even know where the kitchens are?"

"That, mate, is something we'll explain when we arrive at the kitchen."

Surprisingly, no one spotted us on our way to the kitchen, so we didn't really need to bring out the cloak. I have a strong feeling Professor Dumbledore took all the teachers out for firewhiskey or something. They're probably getting some guys and ladies just like our pal Remus over here. We finally made it to the kitchens and just like last time, dragged a struggling Remus Lupin along on the journey behind the tapestry and into the world of bowls and tickled pears. Peachy, I know. After entering the kitchens and politely asking for a table and some chairs, we sat down and made Remus explain (but not before getting some pumpkin juice and pastries).

"Talk, oh dear mate of mine." Sirius ordered.

Remus glared at Sirius before talking, "Now, listen here mates, and don't you dare speak or interrupt me, got that? What I have to say is important."

"Of course, getting a girlfriend is important!"

Remus sighs, "Guys, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Of course you do!" Sirius exclaimed! "That's why you're so stressed Remy!"

"Remy? What's with the pet names Sirius! Though Remy does have a nice ring to it..." I said as I dazed off thoughtfully.

"James! Snap out of it! We need to be questioning our dear friend Remy about his girlfriend! And what he was doing with her." Sirius snapped at me while turning towards Remus, slightly disturbed, "You weren't _snogging _her right?"

"For the LAST time, Sirius! I don't have a girlfriend! I was out that night because-"

"What do you mean you "don't" have a girlfriend? Then what were you doing? Knitting? Riding unicorns? Dancing with teletubbies? Whatever those are...I heard Evans mention it once..."

"SIRIUS BLACK I WAS OUT HAVING FAMILY PROBLEMS! MY FATHER HAD GROCERIES TO DO AND MY MOM HAD FALLEN ILL WITH THE FLU SO I VOLUNTEERED TO HELP!" shouted a frustrated Remus.

By this time, I had somehow snapped out of my daze to hear Remus ramble on about groceries and mothers. "Well, why didn't you tell us this earlier, mate?"

" 'Cuz you nincompoops wouldn't bloody listen to me!"

"Oh." Sirius and I both said at the same time.

"How did you guys find the kitchens anyway? I knew about it from reading _Hogwarts, A History."_

"Isn't that the book Evans was reading the other day?" I asked suspiciously wondering what he was doing talking to Evans.

"Yeah. I asked if I could borrow it and she said yes, why?"

"Oh, just wondering."

Meanwhile, during our conversation, Sirius had fallen asleep and was breathing deeply. 

_Might as well sleep here as well,_ I thought as Remus and I got comfortable.

Early the next morning, a deep cough woke us up as we saw Professor Dumbledore standing over us with a twinkle in his eyes.

"We're so sorry sir, never again sir, we promise!" Remus mumbled.

Dumbledore chuckled, " It's quite okay, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Black. I sometimes like to have a late night snack as well. Now better get going! Classes will begin in fifteen minutes!"

"This is it, mate, the moment we've been waiting for!" Sirius and I stared at the awesome poster on the notice board in the common room.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this," the usually confident Sirius confided in me.

"Listen, we practiced all summer. You better be ready for this!"

"But I don't know if I have enough skill to make the Quidditch Team."

"I ran you ragged. I pushed you as hard as I could. I bet I pressured you more than the Quidditch Captain will."

The sun rose up from the horizon on Saturday, September 30th to illuminate a perfect day for quidditch. The autumn air was beginning to roll in and the leaves were beginning to turn. The air was pleasantly crisp, but it did not inhibit our breathing yet.

Sirius and I ate a light breakfast and were wished luck by both Remus and Peter, the former was going to do a bit of studying and eventually meet up with us whilst the latter would come to watch all of the tryouts.

"I am not here," the captain began, "to let friends on the team. You are here because you want to play Quidditch and help your house win the house cup. You are not here to socialize with friends. If you are here because you think you may get on due to a friend, or you want to get on the team to talk to friends, I'd advise you to leave now."

A couple of people exchanged glances, but no one left.

"You are here to show me your skills. Make your best effort and try your hardest and I will consider you for the team. Don't show me your best efforts, and I will consider you no further. I will tell you right then and there that you will not make the team and I will request you to leave the pitch."

He stared us down, making eye contact with every single one of us. My heart had already been fluttering in my chest, and underneath Sirius' cool exterior, I knew that he was in an even worse state than I.

"I trust that you all know the rules of Quidditch and you know the positions you wish to try out for and what they are required to do. I trust that once accepted into my team, you will do your best to ensure a win for your team. I promise we will have a good year. Help me stick to my word."

If that wasn't a speech, nothing was.

I was fifth in line for the chaser tryouts out of a total of ten.

Sirius was seventh in line for the beater tryouts out of a total of nine.

Chasers and keepers were up first.

Basically, the person trying out for chaser had to try and score as many points as possible, while the person trying out for keeper had to try and block as many as possible. The captain would then judge how well each individual did, and if he thought that the pairing was not satisfactory, he would call one or both of the people back to try out again. He explained this to us and then immediately started to call names.

Around noon, "James Potter," was called.

I walked out to the field, my new nimbus 1980 in hand, and mounted it. Our captain through the quaffle up into the air and my mind started to spin. I watched the crowd around me, seeing Remus and Peter cheering me on. I looked up at the goal posts. Why must they be so far away?

"Is he going to move or not?" I heard someone call from the stands.

I started to rise up from the ground, sill feeling transfixed and in a dream, totally out of my element.

The quaffle started to sink back down to the ground, gravity taking effect.

I raced over to the quaffle, feeling the wind fly through my messy hair.

I was free! This was the feeling I loved! Flying, with no height restrictions. I swooped around the field to boost my confidence, completing a few airborne tricks.

"Show off," I heard someone mutter from the crowd.

_OH yeah.. I'm in a tryout. I have to actually hit the quaffle._

I found the quaffle and flew over to it, as fast as I could. I hit it towards the goalposts with a satisfying _thud._

It went in.

_What? Really? I wasn't even trying. I must have a really bad keeper._

The keeper hit the ball back to me and I swung my arm again. The ball was headed straight for the center of the goal posts, but the keeper got there just in time and blocked it from entering.

_Ok. Time to get crafty._

I waited a little bit until the quaffle was right where I wanted it. I swung my arm in an arc and it made contact with the ball.

The quaffle started to spin in the air and began to curve around. The keeper leaned out to get it, but the ball squeezed right by. Another goal! The crowd was silent.

"Potter," I heard. I looked down.

"Yes?"

"Can you do that again?"

"I believe so."  
"Do it again and I will move you past stage one of tryouts."

"Ok." I knew this was my last chance. Either I hit it in again or it would be considered a fluke and I would never have a chance.

I swung my arm around in an identical arc as last time. It headed right for the exact spot as it did last time, but the keeper was ready for it. He intercepted it at the last moment. No matter. I proved myself already.

I flew off the pitch and into the stands, feeling confident, and started to watch all of my competitors try out.

Soon, it was Sirius' turn.

"Good luck, mate," I whispered, knowing full well that he couldn't hear me.

Sirius' try out was a little harder to coordinate. Madam Hooch had bewitched four broomsticks so they would fly around the pitch all on their own. There were two scarlet brooms for gryffindor and two green ones representing Slytherin. Sirius had to hit the bludgers away from the gryffindor brooms and try to knock the green ones off course.

Sirius walked onto the pitch with his usual smile on his face. This kid didn't look nervous at all. How was that possible when I was just shaking like a leaf?

Oh there it was. Only someone who knew Sirius as well as the three of us did would ever pick up on something as miniscule as this. The trouble-seeking twinkle was gone from Sirius' eyes. He looked nervous and...well... serious. I hadn't seen him this way since he got worked up about going home to his family over break last year.

Regardless of his nerves, he mounted his broom and rose up. The captain flew up to him and handed him a club.

**Sirius:**

"Ok," the captain said said, "I'm gonna release a bludger now."

I froze for a second and then registered what he had said. I went over to where the bludger was and hit it away from the nearest red broom. The captain released the second bludger. This is where things really started to heat up. I had to be fast and strong. I kept an eye on each bludger and began to feel a rhythm. I hit the balls toward the green brooms whenever they got too close to the scarlet ones. The longer I was up there, the faster I improved. Soon, not a single bludger was hitting the Gryffindor brooms at all. All I had to start to do was to knock the green brooms out of their paths. was making good progress, though. I had never played like this. Not ever. I hoped that I would get to play a lot more quidditch, whether or not I made the team. I finally started to knock around the Slytherin brooms like they were simply twigs.

"Ok. You are done now."

"Done? Really? Already?" I asked the captain.

"Yes. Already. I've seen enough." The captain's face was impassive.

I got off my broom and walked off the pitch, feeling dejected.

"Let's go," I said to my friends when I reached them, "I've had enough excitement for one day."

"Sirius, that was amazing!" Peter told me, ever the fanboy, "I mean really amazing! That was incredible!"

"Thanks, Peter," I smiled at him.

"I don't want to look, James."

"Come on, Sirius. You have to. I want to know once and for all, and I am not going down there without you. Don't you want to know if _I_ made the team?"

"Of course I do, James, you're my best mate. I just want to go back to bed and forget the whole thing," I said, pulling the pillow over my head.

"NO! We have to know once and for all!"

"I'm not ready for the knowledge!" I muttered into the mattress.

All of a sudden, Peter came bounding into the room.

"You did it! You did it!"  
"Did what, mate?" I asked him, "It's too bloody early for this."

"Too early to find out that you both made the team?"

"Bleah... I told you i don't want to hear about stinking QUIDDITCH!"

I looked around and hoped that James would feel my pain. He was beaming at me. Why? I let what Peter had just told me sink in.

"Ohhhhhhh... WHAT? I MADE THE TEAM!? REALLY!?"  
"Gee, Sirius, I'm glad your response was so instantaneous."

"I. Must. See. This!"

James and I ran down the stairs into the common room and looked at the notice posted on the bulletin board.

"I can't believe it, mate. This is brilliant!" James told me.


	6. Detentions, Confrontations & Passageways

**Chapter 6: Detentions, Confrontations, and Passageways**

**A/N: I am much too lazy to continue doing author notes in the future so R will take over ( if she wants to) cuz i dont feel like telling u people the same old thing everytime but it is fun writing disclaimers haha peace out have fun reading and leave a review below if possible!**

** ~M (muffin)**

**Disclaimer: *counts money* **

***finds two dollars and 5 cents***

***sits on bed feeling melancholy and cries***

**basically not J.K Rowling.. I tried... **

**Lily**

I shot a glance at Marlene as Binns tried to impress us again with the same old trick as he did the first day of school. I'll be the first to admit that it is kinda freaky when your teacher appears through the blackboard instead of coming through the door like any other teacher. But then again, Binns is nothing like every other teacher. For one, he is 100x as boring. For another, he is 100x as dead.

"The Goblins began to work at Gringotts because they were more trustworthy than wizards or even muggles, providing complete security in the minds of the bank's patrons, and a subtle peace between wizards and goblins, which had not always been the case, and it certainly will not remain so." Binns rambled on and on and on. I was usually attentive, but today I felt as if someone was staring me down.

I looked around the classroom, trying to relieve my boredom, and noticed Potter staring at me. He quickly looked away, trying not to look guilty. For the moment we made eye contact, I saw a peculiar look on his face. Something between amusement and disgust. Wow. I can't believe he was that focused on hexing me in the middle of class.

"Goblin welfare is among one of the most disputed topics these days because they are not-"

I tuned Binns out. It was such a nice day outside for late November. All i wanted to do was to get outside and escape. Maybe I would go and watch Quidditch practice with Marlene, her older brother was a seventh year and on the team.

_No. I can't do that. I still have a Potions essay and a bunch of reading for Herbology to do. Life is so hard._

**James**

We were in History of Magic, nothing new I guess. Binns, as usual droned on and on about some Goblin Welfare that no one actually cared about, except maybe Lily Evans, she was usually the only one who actually took notes. I turned towards where she was sitting, a few seats up and to the left. But this time, surprisingly, Evans wasn't taking any notes. In fact, she sort of seemed to be zoning out on the whole lecture Binns was giving us. Is this for real? Or am I dreaming? The _Lily Evans _not paying attention? What has the world come to? I thought...wait no...maybe I judged her too fast. Maybe she's not really who everyone makes her out to be? Could it be? Is there more to Lily Evans than everybody gives credit for?

I must have been staring at her for too long because one second I was in my chair and the next second I was on the floor and everybody was staring at me. Sirius was rolling on the floor laughing whilst Peter had woken up from his sleep from the noise I made. Even Remus was smirking. I looked over to where Lily was sitting and saw an amused look in her eyes, yet judgint by the way she was scowling, she disapproved of my behavior.

"What did you do that for?" I angrily whispered at Sirius who had stopped laughing long enough to listen to what I had to say. That idiot.

"It's not healthy to stare at someone for that long, especially if it's someone like Lily Evans, who we all _know_ you dislike." he said with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean? I wasn't staring at her! I spaced out for a couple of minutes and my gaze was in her direction!"

"Riggghhhhtt."

Well thank _Merlin_ History of Magic is over. Personally, I'm starving.

"That dinner sure was nice!" Peter voiced my thoughts.

"Yeah! Lets go do something fun!" Sirius said.

We went back to the common room to find our classmates and some upperclassmen snogging on the couch. Probably that what's - her - name girl and Longbottom, both fifth years. Evans and McKinnon had yet to arrive. I don't know whether I was disappointed or relieved. More relieved, I guess, since Sirius already thinks I like Lily. Can't make a fool of myself again.

"Hey! Who's up for some more food at the kitchens?" suggested Sirius.

Remus groaned, "We _just _ate! How are you always hungry?"

"Hey, what can I say, I'm a growing boy! I _need_ food."

I rolled my eyes as Remus and Sirius continued their yapping all the way to the dorms.

**Sirius**

It was around 11 and James, Peter and I decided to finish up our homework in the common room as to not disturb the boys who were sleeping in the dorms. Remus was out cold, can't blame him that poor lad, working so hard everyday to keep us out of trouble. We came to the common room to find Benjy Fenwick, a fellow second year Gryffindor, surrounded by textbooks doing homework with Marlene on the floor. Peter had gone off to claim a place near the fire and start his homework.

"Where's Evans?" I teased Marlene since they were usually together.

"Over there." Benjy whispered as he nodded his head to couch in the corner of the common room.

Fenwick was a nice kid with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was a bit on the skinny side and was pretty friendly and loyal to people. James and I walked past Evans' couch, with our homework in hand to join Peter. But I swear I heard James mutter something as we walked past her sleeping form. It sounded suspiciously like something along the lines of "cute" or "adorable", but I can't be too sure since it was barely audible. I'll have to carefully observe Jamesy whenever Lily's around because it looks to me like he kinda liked her. Not that he'd admit, it but I will get it out of him, being best mates and all. Right now we actually are going to do our homework. Shocker. I know.

The next day, in Transfiguration, we were trying out to transfigure some buttons into beetles. As usual, James and I were the first to finish, easily being the best transfiguration students in our year, something we take great pride in. And, we tend to rub it into Evans' face a little bit. Just a smidgen.

I looked over to where McKinnon and Evans were sitting. Mckinnon seemed to have finished, but Evans looked like she was having a bit of trouble. I turned to look at James if he was watching Evans but he was not next to me. _What? Where did that prat go? _ I scanned the room and sure enough James was next to Lily, trying to help her. I watched them with an amused smirk. James had managed to help Evans but it looked like they were arguing with each other now. I attempted to catch a few tidbits of it and all I heard was, "Potter! I do _NOT_...help!" and then James was like, "I know..fixing... mistakes." Apparently they were causing quite the commotion because McGonagall (or Minnie as we (the gang)) liked to call her, unbeknownst to her) was at Evan's desk in a hot second. After some kind of stern talking that went on, James was smirking and Lily was scowling and managed to set James' robes on fire. I mentally slammed the palm of my hand into my face. _What had he gotten himself into? _

"I got detention with Evans!" James said with a smile. Strange. Why would he be happy to get detention? Maybe it has something to with the fact that _Evans _also got detention? Hmmmmm. Must look into this.

"Well have fun scouring the cauldrons, mate!" I said smirking. "Tell me how it goes, aight?"

**James**

I had detention. With Li-Evans at that! I really have no clue whether I'm glad or nervous. Not at getting detention. I don't care about that at all. I mean like I will be in the presence of the one and only Lily Evans, and she confuses me! LIke somedays I feel butterflies in my tummy when I look at her whilst on other days I just feel like strangling her or punching a wall cause she's so bloody annoying. Last night, she looked so peaceful and angelic while she slept; she was so cute. And then this morning, in Transfiguration, she yelled at me and it was annoying. She called me a cheeky git at that! Like ruuuuuuude.

I wonder if Evans is already at detention. ... Oh look she's waiting with Professor Slughorn and boy does she not look happy.

"Now that both of you are here, I would like for you to clean the cauldrons." _Piece of Cake. _"Without Magic," he continued. _Oh bugger off you old codger! He confisticated our bloody wands! my magic! nooo! I can feel it draining away! _

Lily was giving me a weird look.

"Scared, Potter?" she said as she pulled off a true Slytherin smirk. Probably hanging out with Snivellus a lot. I don't know what she sees him, honestly.

"You wish, Evans!" _Wow! she actually thinks I'm having a panic attack over detention._ As if. I was kinda surprised how she didn't look the least bit nervous or scared. She was probably hiding it well. _Well let's clean some cauldrons._ Evans being Evans went to the opposite side of the room from where I was cleaning and was already on her third cauldron whilst I was only on my first.

"How are you doing that?" I asked enviously as I watched her cleaning her fourth cauldron.

"Doing what?"

"Cleaning so fast? You're already on your fourth cauldron! I'm only on my second!"

"Well, I do happen to be a muggle-born and I know how to clean without magic. It's not that hard."

I blushed profoundly muttering things like house-elves.

"Oh don't tell me you've never cleaned something by hand before?" she said with astonishment.

If possibly I turned even redder and changed the subject, "So how was your summer, Evans?"

"Disastrous as usual," she said keeping the topic vague.

"How so? Does this have anything to do with your ministry trial?" I asked keeping my eyes off hers.

"How did you know about that?" Evans scrubbed the cauldron harder with frustration. "No one knows what happened except for Sev!"

Catching the disgusted expression on her face when she said "Sev", I suspected that something had happened between them. "My dad mentioned it briefly."

"How did your dad find out? Don't tell me your whole family is a bunch of stalkers Potter!"

"He's the Minister of Magic."

"Oh. That's why he looked so familiar."

"What did you even do? And did Snive -Sev have anything to do with this?"

"Don't call him that! And it's none of your bloody business Potter! Stay out of it!"

"I wasn't going to and fine. I'll find out sooner or later." I said determined to ask my dad for the details over the Christmas holidays. The remaining time in detention was spent in silence with me brooding over some possible consequences and with Lily cleaning most of the cauldrons.

**James**

Sirius was round at my house once again for Christmas!

My parents permanently moved the spare bed into my room for Sirius. He was over enough to call it "Sirius' bed."

We were lying in our beds one night, just talking when the topic of a certain redhead came up.

"You like her, don't you?" Asked Sirius. He rolled onto his side and turned to face me from across the room.

My heart started pounding out of my chest. How much did he know?

"What makes you think that?" I spluttered, "Me? Like Lily Evans? Codswallop! I would never like her."

"Ok, mate, whatever you say," Sirius answered good-naturedly, the smile audible in his voice.

"You never answered me Sirius, what makes you think I like _Evans,_ which I don't."

"Well, I'm your best mate. Nothing you do passes me by. I see it when you stare at her all doe-eyed. And plus, your tone right now. It's as obvious as the nose on your face."

My face turned to a deep red. I was lucky that it was too dark to see it.

Sirius continued, "It's too bad that you two are as different as chalk and cheese," he teased.

"You won't tell anyone?" I asked him pleadingly. I felt so hopeless. Why had I allowed myself to be this weak?

"Not until you admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you like Lily Evans," He said in a sing-songy voice.

"I won't."

"Well it looks like you won't be getting any help from me in keeping it a secret."

"Sirius, you bloody blackmailing buffoon. I cannot believe you of all people would stoop to these levels."

"Admit it, James. You know you _looooooove _ her."

"Shhhhhhh... not so loud! My parents might hear you!"

"So what? That helps out my plan!"

"I really hate you right now, Sirius."

"Tell the world you like Lily Evans."

"No. I do not like her."

"Fine. Then just tell me. We all know you do."

"Sirius, I'm warning you."

"Warning me about what?" He asked me, "The only person you've ever hexed is your _girlfriend_.. and you've always had me at your back."

"SHE. IS. NOT. MY. GIRLFRIEND."

"Not yet, but you wish she was, there's no denying that. Admit to me that you like her and I'll stop teasing you."

"I don't believe you for a second."

"Smart move, mate, I wouldn't believe me either. Just admit that you like her and we'll be done with this fiasco. James Potter's first Hogwarts crush will be exposed to Sirius Black, once and for all."

"If I say it can we just go to sleep?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

"Ok fine," I started to say the dreaded sentence through gritted teeth, "I. Like. Lilly. Evans"

"There! Was that so hard?" Sirius asked me.

"Shut it, Sirius."

"Ohhhh Jamesy has a crushh on Lily Evans with the flowing sunburn-red hair and the strikingly ugly garbage green eyes."

"Shut it, Sirius," I told him once again as I pressed my face between the pillows on the head of my bed, blocking out much of the noise coming from my best mate. "By the way, I finally figured out what Evans did over the summer."

"Oh so she has been on your mind?" He said with a smirk.

"Do you want to know or not?" I asked as I eventually ended up telling what happened and made him promise to never tell anyone.

**Lily**

The holidays were over and I was walking down to the great hall for breakfast with Marlene when I spotted Severus coming toward me.

My stomach hurt with his betrayal and I motioned to Marlene to speed up to avoid taking with him.

"Lily!" He called after me. I pretended not to hear him and continued on my merry way.

"LILY!" He called again.

"LILY EVANS!" He yelled at my receding back, "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

"What do you want, Severus?" I asked him. I wasn't half tempted to call him 'Snivellus' like Potter and pals, but I held my tongue. I would never stoop that low. I signaled to Marlene to leave us.

"I'm sorry, Lily."

"Yeah, right," I snorted, and started off to the great hall once again, following my friend.

"NO! Come back! I L-I really am sorry, Lily. I don't know what I can do to make it better."

"You can't make it better. Not after what your friends did. And you didn't care. You didn't tell them to stop!"

"I didn't have that power."

"Of course not. _You didn't have that power._ How could I forget? Where I'm from, friendships are always reciprocal, and just as you do stuff for them, they should do stuff for you."

"But Lily... You don't understand."  
"Oh yeah. I forgot. Of course not. Because I'm a _MUDBLOOD!"_

"But I told you, I'll never call you that."

"Well your friends did, and a person's friends say a lot about the person. Now If you'll excuse me, I have a friend to catch and a breakfast to eat."

He still called after me, but I ignored him this time. Who cared what Severus thought. It was sad that even though he had been my best friend for so long, it seemed to be ending right here and right now. Marlene could suffice.

**Peter**

They are including me again! Yay! I mean it's ok when they want to hang out without me. I get it! But they actually want to include me!

The plan for tonight is to utilize everyone's special talents. Remus, having read _Hogwarts, A History_ a million times, would point to places where he thought a hidden passageway would be hidden. James had the invisibility cloak that we would hide under, and Sirius was the best out of all of us at sneaking around. Me, well I guess I was there for support.

"Hmmmm," Sirius wondered aloud, "I wonder if there is anything behind this statue… I mean, It is kinda out of the ordinary, being a one-eyed witch and all."

"Yeah, could be," answered James, musing over the fact.

_Creak_. We all huddled closer together and squatted down to hide our feet under the cloak. Having four of us together was quite a squeeze.

Looking around, we saw nothing. It must have just been one of the staircases shifting its position.

"So how do you think we go about opening it?" Asked Sirius

"Well, we can try out words and see what happens," James suggested.

"Worth a shot, I guess," Remus answered, "How, exactly does one go about this?" He asked, stepping out from under the cloak.

"Say words and tap the statue with your wand, Remus, that's all you can do." James told him.

"Yeah, It's not like you've got anything to lose!" I joked. The others just stared at me.

"Open," Remus started to guess, looking like he felt extremely stupid, "Open sesame, alohamora… Come on guys, help me out here."

We all walked over to the statue and started to tap it with our own wands, hoping to come up with the right word, or combination of words.

"Close," Sirius guessed, hoping for a bit of reverse psychology to help.

"Let us in," I tried.

Nothing was working, but we still had a hunch that this statue would house a secret passageway. There was just something in the air. We could feel it.

We tried everything from trying out words to open the statue to yelling at it to quit being an ugly brute and open up. There was just no way to make it work.

"Come on guys, let's go to bed now." I had withdrawn myself from the group over an hour ago, once I realized that guessing was hopeless.

"Peter is right. It's time to give up for now," Remus defended me.

"We'll come back tomorrow right James?" Asked Sirius.

"Most definitely," James answered, smiling at Remus and Sirius.

The next day, all that the three of them did was scribble words onto pieces of parchment and scribble them out again.

After finishing homework, the four of us sat around one of the tables in the common room.

"Ok guys, let's think about this," Remus began, "Most things in Hogwarts are pretty sensible. There has to be something we haven't guessed that would relate to this passageway."

"That's it!" James exclaimed, "the _passageway!_ We never thought about the passageway! We've only ever been thinking about the opening to it!"

"Woah, good point, mate," Sirius concluded.

"So then what do we know about the passage?" Asked Remus, "What differs it from a normal hallway?"

"Well, it is a shortcut," I prompted.

"Right. So the magic word could be something like 'shortcut,'" Sirius teased.

"Hey. It might be," answered Remus, writing the word down.

"Do we even know where it goes?" Asked James, "Does it go up to a higher floor or a lower floor?"

"What if the passageway's word had to do with that?" Asked Sirius.

"So like 'up,' or 'down,'" I suggested.

"Yeah, like that," answered Remus, dipping his quill into a pot of ink and writing the two words down as well, "And how about 'ascend' and 'descend?'"

"It would be Remus to come up with the fancy words," Said Sirius, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Come on, let's think realistic here. What about-"

I fell asleep. I don't even know what happened until they woke me up. It was time to go again. We had to see if any of the words we had brainstormed ended up working.

"Ok, so here's the plan," James whispered, taking control once we had arrived at the statue of the one-eyed witch once more, "Everyone needs to stand around the statue, and we will go around, saying the words we came up with and tapping it. I'll go first."

The first couple of minutes passed tensely and uneventfully until we got to Remus.

"Descend," he said, tapping the statue as we had all done previously. This time it was different, though. The statue moved. It appeared to shrug. It lifted itself up a little but came right back down.

"Do it again, Remus!" Sirius encouraged.

"Descend." The statue had the same reaction. It didn't open.

"Well, it must be very similar to the word 'descend' then," James deducted, "The root of the word must be descend. Let's try adding stuff onto the word."

Sirius, being next in line had a go, "Pro-descend." Nothing happened.

We went around, adding various prefixes and suffixes.

As a joke, James said, "Descend-y." This produced the best response so far!

We started adding different prefixes and suffixes to "descendy."

Soon, it was Sirius' turn. "errr.." he started and paused for a little bit. He tapped the statue with his wand and said "Descendy-hmmm," pausing to think. The statue opened up, wide enough for a thick person to fit through, but snapped shut almost immediately.

"Ohhhh! It must be dissendium!" Remus concluded. He tapped the statue and tried out his word.

**Marlene**

"Heads up!" I called to Lily as I bunged her a quill.

"Thanks, Mar," but I don't think that I needed to be attacked by the quill to have it..."

"Yes you did, Lily. It was the only way."

She shook her head in disbelief. It was ok though. I knew she wasn't mad!

"Come on, Laina, do your homework!"

"Nah, I think I'll just sit here and stare at boys for a while."

Lily rolled her eyes, "At who? Potter and crew?"

"Hey, you rhymed! And don't insult me! There are plenty of attractive 7th years here."

"Don't overextend yourself," she laughed.

"So tell me what's going on with you and Severus? You don't talk about him as much anymore and you didn't look half mad this morning when he wanted to talk to you."

Her expression soured immediately.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Well, here's what happened."

As I explained all of what occurred between me and Sirius' friends, starting with the "mudblood's alight" incident, Marlene's eyes widened until I thought they would pop out of her head.

"The nerve of all of those sons of witches! You're muggleborn. Do you even know how bad the insult 'mudblood' is?"

"Well.. I know it's bad."

"It's not bad! It's the worst thing someone could call you! Mudblood is so bad that I shudder just thinking about it.. and you know me, I have absolutely no filter on my mouth! It is something you'd probably be in detention for a week for saying, and something that your mom would ground you for life for!"

"If you say so. Severus' friends seemed to say it without a second thought."

"That's because they don't think, Lily. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Where are you going, Mar?"

"Out."

"It's past nine."

"So?"  
"You'll get caught."

"I wouldn't be so sure," I said, stepping toward the portrait hole.

"Marlene, get back here this instant"

"Lil, you're my friend, please don't make me hex you."

That shut her up. Let her be mad at me for a few hours. Just wait until she sees what I got up to!

**James**

I stepped into the secret passageway, my foot making contact with a stone stair. Sirius was close behind me. He placed his hand on the statue and swung his body into the hole, ever the show off. Remus followed close behind, not making a sound. Peter, on the other hand, stumbled in behind us, causing quite a ruckus. The witch swung shut after us, closing us off from the light.

"Lumos," I heard Sirius mutter.

All of a sudden there was light!

"Lumos maxima," Remus outdid him. A ball of light shot out from the tip of his wand and floated in the air, following him.

"Nox," Sirius whispered, extinguishing his own insignificant light.

The steps went down endlessly until they straightened out into a long hallway.

_Where could we be? Were we still under the school? I mean, Hogwarts is on a hill, but is it _really_ that tall? And where could this passage be going?_

About a mile later, the passage began to incline again. There a few more steps, this time leading up. I pushed at a trapdoor in the ceiling and noticed some sort of box slide off of it.

_Was this some sort of warehouse?_

I stepped out, shadowed by Sirius. Boxes and crates were everywhere. Sirius stepped over to one and opened it up. Billions and billions of chocolate frogs tumbled out.

"We must be in some sort of candy shop," Sirius deducted.

"In Hogsmeade you think?"

"Possibly... what candy shops are in Hogsmeade?"

"I don't know.. never been."

"We can ask a third-year."

"Yeah, I suppose so... or," I started, my eyes twinkling.

"We could go exploring," Sirius finished, looking for trouble.

We walked around in the gloom until we found a door. It was too dangerous to illuminate the room with our wands. We could be spotted by any passing wizard, or muggle for that matter if we weren't in Hogsmeade.

Finally, we spotted a door. Sirius opened it with a creak. With a sudden idea, I threw my invisibility cloak over the two of us. We saw another flight of stairs.

"If I see another staircase, I'm gonna be sick," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"Tough luck, mate, Hogwarts is all stairs."

We found ourselves in a store, just as we expected. Over the sales counter there was a banner saying "Honeydukes Sweets." That must be the name of the store. We must be in a place called Honeydukes.

**Marlene**

I reached the door of the Slytherin common room. I had accidentally followed a Slytherin here at some point during my first week. I had decided to keep this place in my memories for a long time, in case it was ever needed.

I pounded on the door, hoping someone would hear me before Peeves, Filch, or Mrs. Norris did.

"Snape," I yelled out, "Severus Snape, come here this instant."

Someone pulled open the door from the inside. A certain someone with long, blond hair that I identified as one of the people that Lily told me called her a mudblood.

"Get me Snape," I snarled, "I know he's in there."

"Hey look, another of your Gryffindor friends," the boy called to Snape, amused, "Are you a mudblood too?"  
"Oh, shove it," I told him, annoyed, "I came to talk to Snape, not you."

"Fiesty," the arrogant idiot said to me.

"Stop trying to one-up me, you arrogant buffoon."

"What did you just call me?"

"An arrogant buffoon. But my quarrel is with Snape, not with you, so I request that you leave me in one piece until I am done shouting at him."

I evidently confused the buffoon. Soon, though, Snape did show up at the door.

"Marlene?" He asked as his eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you know my name?" I asked him.

"Li-"he choked, evidently their quarrel had hurt him, too, "Lily told me."

"Well, speaking of Lily, you do know that you made her very angry, right?"

"Well yeah, but it's not my fault."

"Lily said you'd be like this... anyway, I'm here to make you see some sense and finally make up with Lily, because I hate seeing her this amd and upset."

"Well I tried that once already and she didn't seem to like my apology."

"I wonder why... maybe it was because you didn't own up to what you did."

"Own up to what? I didn't do anything."

"And that is your flaw, Severus Snape, you did do something wrong. You obviously get pushed around by your friends often. You better watch out or you could get into some serious trouble in a few years. Your friends are no good."

"I thought you were here to make me apologise, not to get me angry."

I had to get him to open up. This was obviously not the way to do it.

"Listen, Snape, Lily-"his face softened. That was it. I just had to use her name as often as possible, "Lily is very mad at you. You could have stood up to your friends. That's what Lily would do for you and what Lily wanted you to do for her."

"I guess... but you just don't understand what they would do..."

"Then get new friends. It can't be _that_ hard."

"Listen, I'll apologise to Lily. Is that better?"

"Much. Thank you for having a nice chat with me."

I turned around and headed back to my common room, feeling victorious with a pep now in my step. I had won! I forced Snape into apologising!

I thought I heard a footstep. I shrank into the shadows and thought I heard Sirius' barking laugh.

No. I must be paranoid. The hallway was deserted.

I made my way back to the common room, the rest of the journey completely uneventful.

**A/N: hey guys.. R here. Thank you so much for putting up with us for 6 chapters! Here's where I have to ask a favor of you guys. If there is any sort of plot point that you think we should write about in our story and we haven't yet covered it or hinted at it, please leave the idea in a review or PM hpluver394 (owner of this account)or nobaba (me) . We will get back to you no matter how you contact us! **

**See, no matter how hard we try, we are nowhere near perfect, and we do ****not**** want to forget anything important. **

**Thanks so much for everything! (btw I like cheese..yup that is all ~m)**

** -R (nobaba)**


	7. Quidditch, Cows, and Novels

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: And the summer has ended. It happens every year, but I am not prepared for it yet. I don't think I'll ever be. Then, I'll end up with a full-time job and not even get the summer off. The horrors! I can't fathom how people do it! **

**Anyway, we will not have as much time as we have had lately to write. So, we will try to update once a week (currently we think we are aiming to update every Sunday). So, the updates will come less frequently than you are used to (sorry!) but they will come! If there is one thing I can't stand is people giving up on an unfinished story. Even if you don't hear from us for a while, don't worry! we aren't giving up!**

**Alright, well thanks for reading! Enjoy! (dude this is way too long cmon just be like yo peeps review love you 3 ~ M)  
-R (nobaba)**

**Disclaimer: Ummm can't think of anything creative at the moment so we can't POSSIBLY be the Queen.**

**Lily**

Ugh! Severus was so annoying! I cannot believe the nerve of him! He was calling me again on the way to breakfast.

"Lily, come here. Please?" I guess I'll go tell him to leave me alone again for the millionth time. Sigh.

"I'll meet you at breakfast," Marlene told me with a knowing smile.

What was going on with my friends? What were they hiding?

"Listen, Lil," he was using my nickname again! "I just want to say that I'm sorry. You were right to be mad at me," he was looking down at his shoes, obviously ashamed of himself, "I should have stood up for you against my friends, and I promise I will in the future. I'll never let my friends get between our friendship again."

"Thanks, Sev," I told him, taking the hint and using his nickname to show him that he was forgiven.

I hugged him and said, "I hope this is the last time we have to make up! I can't wait for this summer though-I'll have my best friend back!"

Heading to breakfast with Sev by my side, I started to realise that something seemed off. Marlene's reaction to Sev was almost like she was expecting him to be there. And him, apologising? After he had given up already? It was so unlike him! Suddenly, the details fell into place. I was glad to have as good of a friend as Marlene.

**Severus**

She finally listened to me! Lily Evans listened to me! And she hugged me! Ahh that hug felt so good! And warm! Lily is such a warm hugger! I was so happy that I literally came skipping into the Great Hall. Of course I got some pretty weird looks from people but it was all worth it! My Lils finally forgave me! Life couldn't be better.

Out of nowhere, I heard a whistle and soon I was sprawled on the ground. And then to make matters worse, that _Potter_ had to walk past.

"All right there, Snivelly?"

"Potter! I know it was you!"

"What's going on?" Avery marched toward me, "Severus, why are you on the floor?" He asked, helping him up. "And what was that Potter prat doing here?"

I looked up to see Potter sitting at the Gryffindor table next to Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. When _wasn't_ he surrounded by those buffoons? Across from him sat Lily Evans, the girl of my dreams. She seemed to be laughing at something that Vance girl said, Emmeline was it? They seemed to be sitting next to each other along with McKinnon.

_Ah. The way she laughed, so carefree, like there was not a trouble in this world. And her smile when it reached her eyes was just perfect. Oh and don't even get me started on the twinkle in her eyes as she spoke to a friend or got a question right in class. _

"Oy!" Muculiber waved his arms in front of my face. He was another fellow Slytherin with a muscular build and a light brown buzzcut and had apparently come over when he noticed Avery was having trouble in bringing me back to reality. "Stop staring at that Mudblood. She's not worthy of your eye."

"Don't. Call. Her. A. Mudblood! She's my friend and I don't care what you think of her!" I stood up to Muculiber, just realizing how tall he really was. Compared to my four foot ten inches, he was already five foot three, with Avery in the middle, just a bit over five foot. All our hair colors were different, too, mine being greasy black, Avery's a rich, chocolatey brown and Muculiber's a light, sandy brown.

After yelling at me for who-knows-how-long (I was focusing more on LIly's hair) about mudbloods and such, Mulciber left with Avery while I slowly made my way to the Slytherin table to eat breakfast. Today was going to be an interesting day! After all, we were all excited for the upcoming quidditch match! Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Potter and Black were going to get destroyed.

**Marlene**

My brother was very happy this morning! He loves quidditch as much as all of the girls love him! Seeing as I am his sister, I can't really make statements about his appearance, but let's just say that he was blessed with the good genes.

Lily and I were heading down to the pitch as we passed the team.

"GO GRYFFINDOR!" I yelled, smiling at my dear brother. We may not get along too well at home, but we were certainly on the same team so-to-speak here at school.. even though I didn't actually play on the quidditch team. It just wasn't my sport. I was more of the.. unathletic type. You know? The type that just likes to laugh and tease and play around? Well the only club for that here at Hogwarts is the Potter Pals, and they are just a tad too arrogant for me. Just a little smidgen.

James and Sirius waved at me, smirking. _ Those toe-rags._ Seriously. I was encouraging my brother. Not them.

"Come on, Lily," I said to her, "we don't want to communicate with the uneducated."

"Too true," she agreed, smiling sweetly at the boys, just to increase their anger.

We found seats pretty close to the field and sat down as Remus Lupin, one of the Potter Pals started to commentate.

**Remus**

"Come all come young to the quidditch match between Gryffindor," I paused as half of the crowd roared like lions and the Slytherins, trying to outdo them booed at the top of their lungs, "and Ravenclaw! We have our captain, Calum Jordan from Gryffindor, and our other captain, from Ravenclaw, Kennedy Laudy."

I got to commentate for the quidditch matches since I had to come up with something to do while Sirius and James were playing! I guess Peter was just sitting comfortably in the stands, maybe even sleeping. He had never cared much about quidditch, or even house pride. Oh well. _I'll never understand that kid._

"Captains, please shake hands," I continued, "And the bludgers and snitch are being released, and there's the quaffle, starting the game!"

"Gryffindor starts with possession of the quaffle and Maddie Recca speeds down the pitch, dodging bludgers as she passes the quaffle into the awaiting hands of MY good mate James Potter! Oh look! Potter's heading toward the hoops, he shoots the ball into the hoop and BY MERLIN! HE DID IT! HE SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! GOOD JOB MATE! Ravenclaw chaser Andrew Doloni now in possession of the quaffle as a bludger comes in to knock him out of the way-nice shot by Gryffindor beater McKinnon! Ravenclaw Chaser Candace Ferbabella has the Quaffle! She passes it to fellow tall blonde -Anyway as I was saying chaser Jessica Kerr is in possession of the quaffle and she tries to score but fortunately-sorry professor- fails as Gryffindor Keeper Calum Jordan, ever the laugh around the common room, makes an award winning save! Keeper Jordan passes the quaffle to Gryffindor chaser Leigha Muraer, hustles down the pitch dodging players and bludgers with great agility. She makes a clean pass to the one and only Potter! Potter shoots, AND HE SCORES! 20-0 GRYFFINDOR! Kerr of Ravenclaw, in possession of the quaffle. She dodges a bludger thrown her way and passes to Doloni but it gets intercepted by Maddie Recca of Gryffindor! She passes it on to Potter who then passes it to Muraer, and SHE SCORES WITH THE HELP OF FELLOW THIRD YEAR RECCA! 30-0 GRYFFINDOR! Ferbebella, oh dear, is getting quite aggressive and is maniacally flying towards the gryffindor hoops at full speed. She might bust someone's arm off with the speed shes going. She shoots and SHE SCORES! Ravenclaw now on the board with 10 points! Things are getting aggressive here! Hopefully one of them find the snitch soon. Muraer, now in possession of the quaffle-is that the snitch? By Merlin! The snitch has been spotted! Daniella Gary of Gryffindor and Collard Grawsat are both neck and neck! Who will get the snitch first? GRAWSAT is tightening the gap between herself and the snitch. BY GOLLLY HE DID! GRAWSAT WON THE MATCH FOR RAVENCLAW! BOOOO! -ONLY KIDDING PROFESSOR- WELL MAYBE NEXT TIME GRYFFINDOR, YOU TRIED!"

**Peter**

The Quidditch game was really fun! I saw James and Sirius zooming on their broom sticks looking all mighty! I wish I could be like them! Some girls were even giggling whenever James did a trick or when Sirius hit the bludger out of the way with his strong muscles. Remus also was an amazing commentator. He sure has a way with words that can hook every student at Hogwarts. Gryffindor didn't win this time but hopefully next time they'll be in top form. I can't wait for the next game. Gryffindor will definitely pummel those nasty Slytherins, even though I don't really hate them that much. Like they really are nice people, I just don't understand the rivalry. I mean there is nothing wrong with following someone's orders. I follow James, Sirius' and Remus' all the time and the Slytherins follow their parents and some follow this guy named ... well, You-Know-Who. People say he has no nose. I don't know if thats true or not but I intend to find out one day.

**Sirius**

"Sirius! Shut up! We can't get caught stealing sweets from Honeydukes!" James whispered agitatedly.

"But Peter stepped on my foot and it hurts!" I whimpered.

"Shh I think I hear the pitter patter of something."

We started backing up slowly but bumped into something and tripped. Oh gosh. Oh dear Merlin. Agrippa. Morgana!

"Here, Peter, take the cloak and drape it over yourself." James handed Peter the cloak.

"OH! And take the candy as well!" I suggested as James and I poured all the candy into his robe pockets and into his extended arms.

"Oh gosh did we just squish Mrs. Norris?" I asked.

"Who cares?" James replied. "Filch is going to kill us anyway." James replied.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?" FIlch bellowed.

"Shh. There are people sleeping! Don't wake up the whole castle." I muttered.

Luckily, Filch didn't seem to hear, "And my poor cat! You almost killed her!" He picked up Mrs. Norris and began petting her gently, scowling at us. "Now why are you students out of bed?"

"Stuuudents out of bed! Yeeeee!" Came the voice of Peeves. "Ickle Second Years out of bed wait till Ol' Filchy puts them in detention! YEHAHAHAHA!"

"That's enough Peeves! I'll take care of these rascals." He turned his attention towards us again, lead us to his office and took out what looked like a logbook of some sort, "Names?"

"Sirius Black and James Potter, sir." I answered. We had been in trouble so many times that I was surprised he didn't know our names yet.

"Crime: out of bed after curfew." He more or less said to himself. "Your detentions will be held tomorrow at 8:00. Be prompt and meet me in front of the great hall. Now get your nasty butts back to Gryffindor common room."

"What's his problem?" James voiced my thoughts.

We made our way silently back to our dorm rooms and flopped on our beds, staring at the ceiling. It was already 2:00 and we would have to be up and about by 7:00 for classes. Luckily we only got detention and Peter got back to safety with our piles of candy. And we didn't actually steal anything. James did make sure to put some money into the cash register before leaving. So it was all good. Peter, turns out had eaten most of the candy but there was some remaining and since we were hungry, James and I gobbled whatever was left.

When we woke up this morning, Peter, James and I rushed to the Great Hall in order to reach the food. Man the food here at Hogwarts sure was delicious. I just couldn't get enough! It was calling my name, begging me to be eaten. _Ok. I'm pretty sure I look crazy right now and even delirious because McKinnon and Evans are giving me weird looks._ I had to stop worshipping this pile of food that in front of me. _That might help in attracting girls._ But seriously, I was starving! James, Peter, and I went out last night and unfortunately we had to pay some consequences. Remus was nowhere to be found as usual. He went away like once a month to support his family or something. The bloke could just tell us he didn't want to be involved in our pranks instead of making silly excuses. _Merlin_. But I love Remy. He's smart.

**Severus**

Ok. Let me tell you one thing. Sirius Black and James Potter are the most annoying boys on this planet, I swear. So we were in double potions with the Gryffindors and we were brewing the Swelling Solution. Potter and Black were seated in front me while Lily, sweet Lily, was seated next to me. All was good. Until Sirius Black started to fool around. _I swear to Merlin those two are the bane of my existence._

"Hey, Sirius, what did the cow see when he looked through the telescope?" James said.

"Oh, I don't know, James, maybe the MOOn!" Sirius replied as both he and James guffawed at the lame joke. Wow what losers. Lily knows better jokes than those and one look at her face tells me she's not amused. Not in the slightest. My little angel, agrees with me in every way. Sigh.

"Oh you call that a joke?" Lily interrupted as I groaned. Now Lily was joining in too? That better not be the case.

"Think you know any better ones, Evans?" James resorted.

"Yes, please do enlighten us." Sirius remarked.

"Well, what's a cow's favorite game to play at a party?"

"Errr. I don't really know?" James the arrogant jerk answered.

"OOhh! I know! The MOOmba!" Sirius the other arrogant jerk guessed.

"That's a dance, you nutter!" Remus chimed in.

"NO! MOOsical chairs!" Lily answered. Okay, _that_ was pretty funny. Then again, I thought everything Lily said was endearing. So when I started rolling on the floor laughing, I wasn't surprised to find weird looks aimed my way.

"Umm, Sev? Are you ok?" Lily asked with an adorable weirded out expression on her face.

Aww she cared about me! My heart, it just swelled up into happiness, delight! "Couldn't be better, Lils." I sighed contentedly up at her. I really must've looked like an idiot because Potter and Black looked shocked to see me laughing. "Everything's just fine," I said standing up and looking around. But while, I was standing up, I did see Potter slyly take a look at Lily with an amused expression and suddenly jealousy surged through my veins.

"What are you still looking at me for, Potter?" I snarled.

"Jeez, what's gotten his knickers in a twist?" Black muttered to Potter as they both turned around and went back to work.

Merlin, those boys. "Hey, Lils, can you please get some bat spleen? We can actually finish the potion unlike those other blunder-heads." I nodded my head towards those arrogant jerks sitting in front of us.

**James**

I watched as Evans came back from the cabinet, her auburn hair flowing behind her back. I turned around and saw Snivelly watching her as well with a look of admiration on his face. I felt like throwing up at the horrid sight in front of me. At least Evans isn't looking back at him that way. My breakfast would definitely not be in my stomach anymore. So Snivellus definitely had the hots for Miss Evans. Interesting. I guess I had to show him a lesson then.

"Hey, Sirius, you want to play a prank on our good friend Snivellus?"

Remus, who had been sitting along with Peter in front of us, groaned when he heard what I asked Sirius. "James, can't you lay off the poor guy?"

"But, Remus! He's a Slytherin, a _snake!_ We _need_ to do something!"

"Well, don't look at me, I'm not getting involved this time."

"We'll corrupt you soon enough my friend." I told him as he just rolled his eyes at me. "So what do you say, Sirius oh dear mate of mine?"

"Fine. What do you want to do?" He grinned as I told him what I had in mind.

"So, this doesn't have anything to do with your newfound feelings for a fiery redhead does it?"

"What? O-o-of course not? What gave you that idea?" I spluttered.

We waited until Evans went back to put the Bat Spleens back in the cabinet as to not injure her in any way. Once she left, Sirius and I turned back to converse with our dear friend, Snivelly. "So how's your potion going Snivellus?"

"Funny you should ask since it's better than anything you and Black could come up with!" He sneered. And while I was distracting Snivellus while keeping an eye out for Evans, Sirius discreetly turned up the heat of his potion with a quick spell.

"Incendio!" I heard him mutter as their potion began to boil.

"Well, looks like your potion isn't perfect either hey Snivellus?" I calmly stated as Sirius and I backed up slowly. All of a sudden, the potion sputtered and boiled over the cauldron splashing onto Snape's face. Evans, on her way back, saw what was happening and rushed back to see Snape's face start to swell up at an incredibly alarming rate.

"POTTER! BLACK! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He raged as the class started laughing hysterically.

"Now, now. What seems to be the matter?" Professor Slughorn came up behind us.

"_Potter _and _Black_ decided that it was funny to increase the heat on our potion!"

"Codswallop! We didn't do anything!" Sirius retorted as I internally groaned as we both feigned innocence. Snivellus snarled as Peter, ever so loyal, interrupted our little bonding session with Snivellus, "Professor, they didn't do anything! They've been working on their potions the whole time!"

"Is that so?" Sluggy asked.

"Yes!" Peter squeaked.

"Um, Professor? My face is kinda swelled up here." Snivelly put in as the whole class burst into laughter again.

"Oh, well, Ms. Evans, can you please aid Mr. Snape to the hospital wing to get his head checked out?"

"Sure, no problem. Come on, Sev."

**Marlene**

"How is Severus?" I asked Lily when she caught up with me in the corridor, returning from the hospital wing.

"He's good! Madam Pomfrey said she was surprised that Slughorn didn't have the antidote on hand. "

"He probably wanted to teach the Potter Pals a lesson."

"Possibly."

"Listen, Lily, you know I'm not Severus' biggest fan, but I HATE those Potter Pals. They are so annoying. Especially Black. You know when someone you can't stand does ANYTHING you absolutely hate them for it? That's me and Black. I hate his guts. If he is in the same room as me and so much as breathes, that jerk makes me want to strangle him. He's too cocky for his own good. One of these days, he is going to do something really bad to Severus, I know he is."

"Laina, I know you hate them, I do too, but isn't that a little much? Why just to Sev?"

"Look at how he looks at Severus. There is so much dislike and disgust in his eyes it makes me want to slap him."

"You just said you always want to slap him…"

"Well, there is that I guess. It just makes me want to slap him more than usual I guess."

All of a sudden, the Potter Pals ambushed us.

"You ladies talking about us?" Sirius asked.

"What gives you _that_ impression?"

"Well," Potter started, "you said you wanted to slap someone, right? Since the two of you go making friends with the Slytherins-"

"Snivellus," Sirius coughed.

"-we knew it couldn't be any of them that were bothering you. Since you always scowl at us when we are around, we knew it must have been us."

"It's cool, though," Black responded, "we know the ladies are always thinking about us!"

"Yeah!" Added in Peter. Lily and I weren't sure why they allowed him in their elite group.. maybe because he was their biggest fan. Remus just stood there a little nervously like he didn't want to pick on people in his own house. Actually, Remus seemed to always turn a blind eye to the trouble that his friends got into.

I pulled out my wand, ready to show Black just how much he was stuck in my head.

"Let's go, Laina, it's not worth it."

"I can do this, Lily. Let me."

"No, Laina. They aren't worth it. Let them be."

"Byeee ladies," Black called as we turned away and took the long way to our next class. It was worth it if it meant we got to stay away from those nuisances.

"What are you doing," Lily asked me, accusingly.

"Looking up some good hexes."

"You're not still on about what happened earlier today, are you?"

"No," I lied.

"Ok then," Lily replied. I knew she didn't believe me. I also knew she knew I knew she didn't believe me.

"So what are you doing then?" She asked me again.

"I told you, looking up hexes."

"To what aim?"

"What are you, my mother?"

"No. I just don't want you losing us any house points."

"You don't trust me?" I asked her, a little hurt.

"It's not that I don't trust you," she started, "I just don't trust that you'll make all of the right decisions with the Potter Pals involved."

"We are only in second year, and you're letting boys come between us?" I joked.

She looked at me seriously, "Marlene. Listen. Don't hex them. Not unless they hex you first."

"No promises."

"Please?"

"Well.. Maybe. But I still need to learn some good hexes. You brought up a good point. What if a boy _does_ come between us and I need to hex that sorry excuse of a thing that captured you with a love potion?"

Lily grinned. I was forgiven, mostly.

"Thanks, Laina." She hugged me.

"So what do you think would be best to hex Black with? A spell to make him spew slugs or one to make him dance continuously?"

I grinned. Lily slapped me. I kept grinning.

"Seriously, Mar, what am I going to do with you?" I looked at her to see her grinning as wide as I was.

**Amos**

School was lovely and it was the perfect Saturday afternoon. There were birds chirping and the grass was ever so green. But being a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts is really hard. No one seems to care about us. I mean we are loyal and are not ones to gossip. No one gets that and truthfully, I couldn't care less. We're friends with each other and occasionally some Ravenclaws or Gryffindors, but never Slytherin. It is common knowledge in this school that the Slytherins hate us with a burning passion, though maybe not as much as they hate the Gryffindors.

"Hey Diggory! What do you think you're doing underneath that willow tree?" James Potter questioned.

"Just taking in the nature. What else would I be doin?"

"What he meant to say was, 'Can we join you?'" Remus stated while glaring at James.

I chuckled, "Sure. So what are you guys up to today?"

"Well James has detention tonight with Sirius and other than that, nothing else is new."

"Again? they got detention again? What did they do this time?"

"We got into a corridor fight with some Slytherins! It was fun!" Sirius butted in.

"Why can't you all just get along? Why do you have to go picking fights?"

"Evan Rosier, Mulciber, and Avery cornered us in the halls for associating ourselves with 'Mudbloods'. What would you have done if they had insulted one of your friends?" James replied.

"For the last time James, Lily Evans is not your friend!" Sirius cut in.

"Hmmph. She should be grateful I'm defending her kind and not degrading them like those blasted Slytherins are."

"Oh, I've heard of Lily Evans. Isn't she McKinnon's friend?"

"Yeah she is. How do you know Marlene?" Peter asked.

"I'm a friend of her brother. We've worked on projects together in Herbology. This year the fourth years have to choose a plant, research it, and share our findings with our class. He's pretty nice and I've talked to Marlene before."

"Oh." Sirius pondered as he looked at the castle. "Hey James, isn't that Benjy Fenwick and Emmeline Vance?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"No, reason. It just looks like McKinnon and Evans have gotten quite chummy with them."

"Why do you guys always address other people by their last names?" I asked.

"Oh, Peter and I address people by their first name. Its only James and Sirius over here who think that calling someone by their first name when you don't know them is wrong." Remus added.

We sat on the grass for a while, watching the Giant Squid wave playfully at the students. Benjy and Emma were sitting nearby working on what looked like a potions essay for Slughorn. After about a few minutes, I saw Marlene walk by towards Benjy and Emma chatting amicably with a red haired girl who was carrying around some muggle book.

"Is that Lily?" I asked the Gryffindor that were surrounding me.

James lifted his head and looked towards the direction I was pointing in, "Yeah, thats Evans all right, always carrying around some muggle book. I wonder what she's reading this time?"

"Looks like some book called, Great Gatsby. It looks interesting." I watched as Lily opened the book and began reading while Marlene did her homework with Benjy and Emma. She was quite cute while reading. Her eyebrows would furrow in concentration and her fingers would lightly tap against the back of the book. It was endearing. I smiled to myself as the boys around me went into a light slumber. I watched as Lily looked up and saw me looking at her. She gave me a hesitant smile back, which made her all the more cuter, and went back to reading. _Hmm. I should ask to borrow that book sometimes. It really does look interesting and maybe I could even have a conversation with her for a bit. She seems nice._

"Amos! You want to come to the library with us and help us study for the upcoming exams?" My good friend Davey Gudgeon asked.

"Sure! Why not?" I replied while quietly standing up as to not disturb the sleeping boys. I took one last look at Lily before following Davey back into the castle.


	8. Summer and a Little Bit of School

**Chapter 8:Summer and a Bit of School**

**A/N: OMG DID YOU GUYS HEAR? NEW POTTERVERSE MOVIE COMING OUT! AHHH FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM OMG I CANT WAIT THIS IS AMAZING AHH BLESS THE QUEEN AHH BUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS I THINK COLIN MORGAN FROM MERLIN SHOULD PORTRAY NEWT SCAMANDER IN LIKE A NICE BUSINESS SUIT LOOKING CLASSY LIKE THAT WOULD BE SNAZTASTIC. BUt anyway sorry for late update and all we tried blame school its like a dementor sucking out our souls. please review! love you all (-Muffin)**

**Disclaimer: we wouldn't have to go this school if we were J.k Rowling. Oh yeah and Starkid and songs and anything that you recognize also don't belong to us, only the plot.**

**Sirius**

Just like last summer, the Potters wanted me to stay at my parents' house for a fortnight before heading over to stay with James.

As I did last summer, I went up to my room and decided to stay in it the whole time. Of course, like last time, it didn't work.

I hadn't seen my mother in a year, but that didn't stop her from acting like I had been there the whole time.

"Come down for dinner, Sirius," She called, her voice emotionless.

"Coming, Mum"

I got down to the table and the conversation started.

"So, Sirius, why don't you tell us about your year. After all, your brother Regulus is starting at Hogwarts next year."

"Well... I joined the Quidditch team."

"I am glad to hear that, Sirius, Your father would have been proud. However, we both would have been even more proud if it was Slytherin you were sorted into."

"Well, _Mum,_ like I said last year, I had no choice in the matter. The sorting hat put me in Gryffindor.

"Sirius, do not take that tone with me, young man. Where there is a will, there is a way. We are not arguing _this_ summer. Regulus, why don't you tell us about your day."

As Regulus droned on again about his day, I drifted off, daydreaming about quidditch.

The next morning, I awoke to an owl tapping at my window.

_What the?_

It wasn't the Potter owl, but a Hogwarts one.

_Why am I getting a Hogwarts owl? What's going on?_

I let the owl into my room and took the envelope from it. It turned and flew out the window, obviously to complete some other form of important business.

Taking out the letter, I noticed there were two papers, and neither one of them was the regular supply list.

_Dear Mr. Black, _

_It has come to my attention that you will be spending most of your summer at the Potter's place of residence. Therefore, I thought that you would appreciate the advance in this form._

_Have a great summer,_

_ Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, _

_Order of Merlin, First Class; _

_Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, _

_Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, _

_Grand Sorcerer_

I opened up the other form.

"Wicked!" I grinned.

This year, as a third year, I would be allowed to go to Hogsmeade! I was so excited. I looked at the rest of the form; it needed a signature. Seems like I would need to kiss up to my mom a little it before I left for the Potters.

"Hey mum," I smiled at her as I went downstairs to eat some breakfast.

"Hi, Sirius," She replied, a little confused at why I was being so nice. Oh well, it was imperative that she didn't see through me just yet.

"Hey Kreacher," I said, calling the repulsive house elf over.

"Yes, Master Sirius?"  
"Can I have some breakfast please? Some eggs on toast?"  
"Of course, Master Sirius," he confirmed, simultaneously glaring at me and bowing.

It wasn't going as bad as I had feared. I just had to hope that the rest of this week and then next went the same way!

**Lily**

"Come on! Just once!" Sev tried to convince me.

"No, Sev, I can't spy on my only sister."

"But she doesn't even like you anymore."

"That was rude and insensitive and you know it."

"Yeah, but you said as much yourself. Anyway, remember all the times we have caught her spying on us? Why is it any different to spy on her? Don't you want to see what she gets herself into?"

"I guess. I still can't imagine spying on her."

"Well, you have to start sometime. We'll start with something easy. When is the next time her friends are going round your house for tea?"

"Tomorrow actually. But Sev, tomorrow is too soon!"

"No it's not!"

"Right. We can spy on my sister tomorrow."

"I knew you'd come around!"

I left the park feeling somewhat elated, though nervous. I couldn't believe that I let Severus talk me into this. It's so unlike me, but hey, she's always spying on _me _so what's the difference?

I squinted into the sunlight, trying to spot Sev in the park. He came around the swings and smiled at me.

"Ready for an adventure?" He asked.

"You bet I am!" I answered. I had been thinking about our plan all night and it just got more appealing the more I thought about it.

We walked the way to my house and hid in the front garden under a plant. From here, we could hear everything that would be going on in the front room where Petunia and her friends would be talking.

Soon, a pair of legs came into view. The owner of the legs walked up our front path and rang the doorbell.

"Dorcas!" Petunia squealed, "I'm sooo glad to see you! Come in, Come in!"

"Is your sister home, Pet Pet?"

"Nope!"

"Yay! Just us and the girls! I can't wait!"

"_That Little-"_

"Shhh," Severus said, clamping a hand over my mouth, "You have to be quiet!"

_DING_! The doorbell rang again.

"Marissa!" Petunia squealed again.

"Pet Pet!"

"I'm so happy to see you! It's been forever!"

"It's been a week," I hissed at Severus, "A week is not that long."

Apparently Claria was already there because Sev and I could hear the distinctly annoying girls laughing inside.

"Hey Clar Clar," Marissa started, "how are things with you and Brian?"

Petunia, Marissa and Dorcas all laughed. No. Giggled.

"Come on Riss Riss, you know that's not funny, he'll never like me. But speaking of boys, how's Vernon, Pet Pet?"

"He smiled at me the other day! It was amazing! What about you, Dorky? How's Johnny?"

"Are we really going through all this?" Dorcas asked, "I'd ask Riss Riss how her special someone is.. but well... she doesn't like anyone."

"Just not at our school, Dorky."

"Whatever you say..."

"Remind me why we are spying on them again, Sev?"

"Are you having fun yet?"

"No. Let's go."

"So it's Pet Pet now, is it?" I asked Petunia after her friends had left our house.

"So what if it is?"

"I never expected you'd go for a nickname so...immature. Don't you always want to appear older than you are?" I asked, referring to the copious amounts of makeup she layered on her face every morning.

"How do you know anyway?"

"That you wear too much makeup? That's plain for everyone to see." Her face turned bright red as she leaned her long neck over to put her face right in mine.

"How do you know that my friends call me Pet Pet? You better not have been spying on me."

"Relax. I wasn't spying. This is my house too."

I ran off to my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I had escaped an angry Petunia for now. Who knows how much longer I would manage to avoid her?

**Severus**

I can't believe that Lily didn't see right through me! I wanted to spy with her for one reason, and one reason only. Why were we lying in the front garden? Because we were so bloody close. She was lying so close to me that I could feel her body heat radiating towards me... or maybe that was just my own heat coming out from being so darn close to her. I could feel her breath. Her every breath. Summer was probably the only time I would ever actually get to hang out with Lily without my friends interfering and calling her a "mudblood" every chance they got. _I seriously don't even know why I hang out with those other Slytherins._ The only thing they cared about was worshiping this middle aged dark wizard named Tom Riddle who goes by the name of Voldemort. I didn't really get it though because some of the older Slytherin such as Bella or Lucius call him the Dark Lord. It made me think they are already part of his cult and obeying his every command. But who knows? Maybe not. Maybe they were just boasting to sound important. But my one true priority would be getting Lily Evans' heart.

**James**

Summer was slowly drawing to a close. Gone were days Sirius, Peter, Remus and I walked mindlessly around the Ministry or pulled pranks at the family gatherings. Gone were the days I would shadow my mom at St. Mungo's Hospital looking at the weak, innocent people who had been the victim of hexes and curses aimed by Voldemort's followers. It was quite sad what we have to deal with in the wizarding world. Dark days. To be frank, I was kind of glad to go back to Hogwarts. I mean back to witches and wizards and magical feasts. Who wouldn't love those? Plus, getting to see everyone and hang out would be fun. And Quidditch. _Merlin, I love that sport... and Lily. _ But the homework. Ugh. They give us so much work. Like I can't balance Quidditch, homework, and pranks throughout the school year. Thank Agrippa I have Remus for that. He's my rock. I can't wait for Friday, though. Hogwarts supply shopping with my boys. And then back to Hogwarts on Sunday.

**Sirius**

The carriages pulled up to the great hall as Hogwarts welcomed us back once more. Sitting down at the house table, we all prepared ourselves for the sorting where, among others, my brother would be sorted. I could only imagine the look on my mom's face if my brother was sorted into Gryffindor along with me! That would be amazing! But my brother was not cut out for Gryffindor. I knew just by looking at how he behaved around the house. A Gryffindor would not let their mom push them around in being cruel to others! there was no way.

I watched the first years' pale faces approach the sorting hat on a stool where it broke into song. I cannot remember the song it sung because I remember joking with James the whole time.

Too soon, it was time for my brother to be sorted.

"Black, Regulus," Professor McGonagall called.

The sorting hat took a long time to decide. The hat was on my brother's hat for longer than anyone else in his year. After a few tense minutes, the Sorting hat muttered, "Well, if you're sure, better be SLYTHERIN," It bellowed the last word so people across the country could hear it as well as us.

The dissapointment. The shame. I had thought, believed, for one moment while the hat was hesitating that he might end up in my house with me. But alas, it did not happen. He was destined for Slytherin and thats where he ended up.

James looked at me with some confusion. Apparently he expected me to be happy that my brother would not be in the same group as me.

"I just thought that if he ended up in Gryffindor too, we could show my mother."

James nodded in understanding. He knew exactly where I was coming from. He understood wanting to get revenge on people you hated, after all, just look at his relationship with Snivellus.

**Marlene**

It was so good to be back with Lily! I mean, we _had_ hung out over the summer, but it just wasn't the same! I had no one to make fun of others with most days, and where's the fun in that?

All of a sudden, our favorite people to make fun of came sauntering into view.

We watched them jostle each other as they spotted Severus, Lily's friend that never seemed to be that far away from her. They were just looking for trouble. I don't know why I was so surprised.

"You know.." Lily muttered to me, "he's not that bad."

"I know, Lil, that's why he's your friend right?" I remembered telling Severus off last year and wondered how they could still possibly be friends. But, hey. I trusted her judgement.

"What?" She asked me, looking confused.

"I know that you don't think Severus is as bad as the Potter Pals do."

"No... I was talking about Remus. He hangs around with them, but I don't think he's that mean... I wonder why he hasn't found other friends..." She trailed off.

"Yeah. I s'pose so."

"Ugh. Not again," She said to me, getting up from where she was sitting.

I followed her glance with my eyes and noticed Severus, about to be hexed by our fellow Gryffindors.

Lily walked over to the Potter Pals looking stern.

"Leave him alone," she said, almost bored. This, however unfortunately, was too common of an occurrence for anyone's liking. I noticed, as Lily had pointed out, Remus was hanging back a little. Maybe he didn't really like what his friends were doing. it wasn't like he was trying to stop them either, though.

"Make me, _Evans,"_ Sirius said to her.

"You arrogant buffoons. Don't you have anything better to do than to pick on Sev?"

I saw a little bit of hurt in Potter's eyes. Hmmm.. Lily's comment must have struck pretty deeply.

"You're right, Evans," Potter said, recovering, "You're always right of course. Let's go pick on some other greasy slimeballs, Sirius."

"Sounds good, James," Sirius said, flipping his shining black hair back over his shoulder.

I watched as Lily made her way back to me.

"Those arrogant toe-rags," She said, pouring as much hatred as she could into the last two words.

**Lily**

As I sat down to breakfast on the fourth day of school, an owl come for me carrying a letter.

I opened it up right away. It wasn't often that I got letters.

_You are cordially invited to a meeting of the Slug Club, hosted by your own Professor Slughorn. It will be a good time to socialize with friends from other houses and your own. Our first meeting will be tuesday at 5:00 in the potions classroom. I hope to see you there!_

_ Professor Slughorn_

"Hey look, Lily, I have one, too!" Marlene exclaimed.

We looked down the table to see Potter, Black and Pettigrew looking down in dismay. I smirked. Their friend Remus got an invitation but they didn't.

Walking over to the Slytherin table, I saw that Severus had gotten an invite, too! I couldn't wait! Upon further inspection, I realized that he was not the only one at that table with an invitation in his hand. Lots of his little pure-blooded friends had gotten an invitation as well, including that absolute _prig, _ Lucius Malfoy.

Maybe it wouldn't end up being as fun as I thought.

"All right there Evans?" James asked me with a grin. What in Merlin's name?

"Shove off, Potter."

"Whatever you say." Hmmm.. there was definitely something going on. I couldn't wait to find out what trouble that the Potter Pals had gotten themselves into this time.

Five o'clock Tuesday finally came around. I didn't know if I was excited or nervous. After all, I would be surrounded by friends which would be good, but Severus would be surrounded by _his_ friends, and Merlin knows I don't like _them._

I walked into Slughorn's classroom with Marlene and was surrounded by tons of people I didn't know. Most of them had lots of friends with them, and Marlene and I felt kind of out of it. After all, most of them were not new to the club and were slightly more social than we were.

We spotted Slughorn himself looking proud in an emerald green robe.

"Attention," he called, "There will be plenty of time for me to talk to you all together later in the year, but for now, please enjoy the food and mingle with each other, quite independent of me. Have fun."

I scanned the room, looking for someone that Marlene and I could talk to so we wouldn't look like nobodies.

"Can we go and get some food, Lil?" Marlene asked me.

"Yeah, sure," I asked, laughing. It was just like her to be thinking of food while I was thinking of people.

We saw the table piled high with foods, some from the hogwarts kitchen, some looking like they were specially made for us. I picked a little of this and that as Marlene grabbed some of everything.I looked down the table and saw Remus, all by himself.

"Poor kid," I muttered to Marlene, "He made friends with losers so he's all by himself. I feel really bad. Can we go talk to him?"

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged.

Walking over to Remus, I felt a little nervous. _Nervous?_ What was wrong with me? He was _Black_ and _Potter's _friend. I just had to hope that my analysis of him was totally right and that he was actually a nice guy.

"Hey, Remus, isn't it?" I realized that I had never really talked to Remus before. He was friends with my two worst enemies... But he was shy and...smart..

"Yeah. Lily, Marlene," He confirmed, nodding at us in turn.

"So what brings you here?" I asked. I immediately cursed myself. DUH! I know what brought him here. It was the same thing as what brought everyone else here. I was so stupid. I couldn't be so stupid. There they were again. Butterflies. What was bloody wrong with me?

When Slughorn called us over to say goodbye, I said to Remus, "Well, you're not as bad as Pettigrew, Potter, and Black are!" Again, I cursed myself. What kind of person goes around insulting other people's friends? My face and ears turned beet red, and Marlene noticed it. She didn't miss a thing, that one.

"Did you just try to _flirt_ with _Remus_? Your worst enemy's best friend?"

If possible, my face grew even warmer. "I hope not," I concluded, after much thought. I had no idea what was going on with me. Hopefully a nice night of sleep would help to clear that up.

**James**

Finally, the day we had all been waiting for came. In Defence against the Dark Arts, we would be fighting a boggart. We had a pretty good teacher, and he thought that we really needed the experience.

Anyway, we all walked into the room feeling _extremely_ excited!

"If I am ever a professor," Remus started, "I'll let my students fight boggarts, too. Seriously. We are all so excited!"

I replied, "Yeah right. Come on, Remus! I'll be dead before _you_ ever teach!"

"Because _James Potter _would ever let death conquer him!" Sirius taunted.

"I don't want to die," Peter added in.

"Come on mates, let's stop talking about death for now and face a boggart!"

After waiting what felt like my whole life, it was my turn to face the boggart. All of a sudden, I realized something. A boggart exposes your worst fear. My worst fear would be shown in front of everyone. In front of _Evans!_ I couldn't believe how i had let this very important fact slip my mind like that! I was so dead!

I stepped in front of the closet that the boggart was trapped in. The professor opened the door and let the boggart lose. It came up to me and it swirled around. Just as I suspected, it was me. Only I was wearing Slytherin robes with a manic glint in my eyes.

Thank Merlin _that_ was over!

Remus stepped up to take his turn. I noticed how pale he had gotten. Sure, the bogart had scared me, but only for the reason that the whole class would know my worst fear. thankfully, I had Riddikulused it before it did too much damage.

The boggart stepped out of the closet and planted itself in front of Remus. The boggart folded and swirled upwards to hang at about head level. It all folded in to create a perfectly spherical orb. A crystal orb.

"Riddikulus!" I heard Remus shout, and the crystal orb fell to the ground and shattered.

"Mate," Sirius said, trying to cheer Remus up after the fact, "Listen, I know you aren't one for the wishy-washy types of magic, but are you really _that_ scared of divination?"

"Hey. At least my worst fear wasn't some old guy, like someone I could name!"

" You don't know who that is. That was a dark wizard. _The_ Dark Lord. Voldemort. He is the one that my brother yearns to join, the one that the 'best' of the pure-blood families admire. He wants to rid the world of muggles and muggle-borns. I could never join his ranks. I could never join someone who wants to kill so many. Therefore, it is my worst fear that someday I will forget the morals that I live by, and join someone I do not like, someone who I despise with all my willpower."

"And mine was only cats because they can claw your head off, and they like to attack you!" Peter added in.

**Remus**

They almost figured me out. Thank goodness they thought that it was a crystal ball and not what I knew it to be!

I just wish I could shatter the _real_ moon. That would make my life _a lot _ easier.

James and Sirius are very resourceful. I know they will figure out my secret. It's just a matter of time. I need to hide it as best as I can. I guess I'll go talk to Dumbledore.

**Lily**

The due date for a herbology essay was approaching very very quickly. As I was know to be, this close to a due date, I was in the library, frantically researching properties of mandrake, a plant that we had covered in detail last year, but were now reviewing. After all, that's all that school is, isn't it? You review stuff from last year, adding a fact or two to it.

I was halfway done when someone came up to my table and sat down, right across from me, on the other side of the table.

"Hi," he said, "I remember you from the Slug Club. Lily, right?"

"Yeah," I replied, "And you are-" I paused, trying to dig the name out of my memory.

"Amos. Amos Diggory. It's ok that you couldn't remember my name. You're in your third year right? I'm in my fourth so I already knew most of the people there, and there weren't as many new names to memorize." He smiled at me. Gee, this Amos person seemed pretty nice.

"So what do you think of the Slug Club, Amos, considering you've been in it for a year?"

"Well," he started, "It's kind of interesting. I like the fact that it brings us all together over the houses but I'm sorry to say that the rivalries between Gryffindor and Slytherin are just as strong there as everywhere else."

"Well, that's to be expected, I guess," I told him.

"Yeah," he laughed, "It's also an interesting mix of students that Slughorn picks. He doesn't care to a huge extent who you are. It matters who your family is, whether they are interesting or not. He always picks the people that can tell the best stories. I'm pretty sure he likes picking people that he thinks will be successful in life-maybe so he can just live off of the endeavors of others, and of course he also picks those who get good grades in his class!"  
"Hmm... from what I observed, it seems like you have a point there. So which category are you in?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I think it might have something to do with my cousin. You see, he made a name for himself in quidditch, and seeing how I play myself, you could say that I have a lot to live up to."

"Well, I'm sure you're pretty good. I don't really follow quidditch that much myself. I probably have seen you play many times. I'll look for you at the next Hufflepuff game! Just don't expect me to be rooting for you when you're up against Gryffindor!" I joked.

Laughing, he replied, "Hey, I don't expect you to! So what's that homework you're doing?"

I had almost forgotten, "Er.. Herbology," I answered, "we need to write about the uses and properties of mandrake."

"I remember doing that essay for Sprout last year. Here, I'll help you!"

"Thanks so much."

I settled into bed, pulling the covers up to my neck. _That was very nice of Amos,_ I thought, _to help a third year he hardly knew with her homework. I must get to know the Hufflepuffs better!_

Relaxing into my pillows, I fell into a light slumber.

_The sun floated down towards the horizon and someone appeared next to me. We were on a roof, and he was holding my hand. We were talking._

_ "I'm not as bad as my friends, you know," he told me._

_ "I know you're not," I reassured him, looking off the roof at the rest of my muggle neighborhood._

I woke up suddenly, feeling very nervous but _extremely_ happy.

_Nervous._ Why was I so _nervous_? Why was I so bloody _nervous_?

What was going on with me? I thought back to the last time I felt so nervous. _The Slug Club! But what about in the Slug Club?_ I closed my eyes, trying to remember. _Remus. _ Remus was the last one that had made me so nervous. _That's why he told me he wasn't as bad as his friends._ I mentally cursed myself again. I can't believe I insulted him like that. What was this? My conscience making me feel extra bad about this _again_?

Why was I so happy though when I woke up?

I thought back to Remus and my heart fluttered. _What was going on with me?_

I thought about his beautiful smile and amazing eyes. _Wait? BEAUTIFUL? AMAZING? These are not words that I use to describe my worst enemy's best friend._

Still, every time I thought about him, my heart felt like it dropped all the way down to my shoes. My stomach churned really fast and my blood pressure rose about 30 points. My face grew warm once again, even though there was no one there to see my reaction.

"Wake up!" I whispered, shaking Marlene.

"Uhhh. Lily are you crazy?" She asked, rolling over and falling back asleep immediately.

"Come on, Marlene, it's an emergency."

She hopped out of bed and followed me down to the common room.

"I don't see this emergency of yours."

"Sorry, I brought you down here so we could talk freely without waking the other girls.

"Oh ok. So what is it that you want to talk about?"

"Well.. Don't laugh. You see, I had this dream and.. well.."

"Spit it out, Evans!" She laughed.

" Well," I began again, "I think I like Remus Lupin."

**A/N: Thanks for the support guys! Couldn't have done it without you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! ~M (psst a Review would be nice :p) **


	9. Of Breaks, Balls, and Edibility

**Chapter 9: ****Of Break, Balls and Edibility**

**Disclaimer: Is either of us JK Rowling? Not last time we checked.**

**James**

The Christmas holidays couldn't come soon enough! I had enough of professors, work, and most of all Lily Evans. No one should be able to play with my emotions the way she does.

Sirius looked at me, "I think I know what Remus' problem is. He's socially awkward! You know that muggle thing we saw last summer in town?"

"What muggle thing? What are you blathering about, Sirius?"

"That thing.. for dancing. It looked like Remus' boggart."

I paused for a moment as I considered, "You mean you don't think he's scared of divination?"

"It seems like it.. Do you remember what the item is called?"

"Errrr... was it... um. well, I know the second word was 'ball'"

"Gee, thanks mate.. that narrows it down quite a bit."

"Well, Sirius, just explain your train of thought please."

"It seems to me that he likes to be a recluse."

"Sirius, mate, I am still confused."

"Well, look at the facts. Remus was scared of that muggle ball. What if he is scared of dancing? That's what they told us it was for, right? The shiny non-talking mirrors reflect the light and shine all over the dance floor. What if Remus does not like to dance? Also, he disappears every month.. only once a month-that's probably because he does not want to disappear too often to make it seem weird and like he's crying home to mummy. But, he _does_ want to see his mum sometimes so he goes home."

"Sirius, he told us he had family issues. Are you sure that that isn't the reason?"

"Yes! You, me, and Peter are his best mates. You'd think he'd trust us enough to tell us a little about simple family matters."

"But family matters can be complicated. You don't understand how he might be feeling."

"Trust me, James. I know what he's feeling."

"How can you? you don't know anything about his family! And I know that you don't know what he's feeling because-" I paused as I realized I had no clue how his family life was.

"James," Sirius started grimly, "please don't assume that you know about my family."

"I'm sorry, mate, I didn't think."

"Nah. It's ok. You're going to figure it out anyway."

"Sirius, do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah. I guess, kinda."  
Once he started to talk, the words came pouring out like a massive ocean streaming through a ravine broad only enough for a river. There was no stopping Sirius Black as he told me all his problems that had plagued him his entire time at Hogwarts. I knew his mom and him had had a slight disagreement. I didn't know how major the "slight" disagreement ever was. I never knew that Sirius' father had died after joining the ranks of someone who believed in blood-purity. I never knew how much trauma that it had caused the small family. I never knew just how angry his mom had gotten when she realized that Sirius was not in Slytherin and had no problem hanging around with "blood traitors" and "mudbloods." I never knew just how much it had hurt him when his own mother preferred his brother and rubbed it in his face. I never knew just how much Sirius was hiding from the world. I never knew just how strong he could be.

**Marlene**

I jumped off the train at King's cross and bounded over to my parents, waving goodbye to Lily.

"Hi Mum, Hi Dad," I called to my family.

"Hey Marlene!" They replied, enveloping me in a hug, "and where is that brother of yours?"

"Surrounded by girls no doubt."

"Is Brett really that popular?"

"Nah. It's just his good looks and boyish charm."

"Yep. Ok. Whatever you say," Joked Dad, "He is not my clone. So there is _No _way he looks that good."

"Ha ha. Whatever _you _ say, Dad."

"Look, here he comes now," mentioned Mum.

Sure enough, he was attracting stares all the way out into the muggle world. It's totally fun to be outshone by your brother. Amazing. Stupendous. I loved it.

"Brett, nice to see you in the real world," I joked, "You're not up on the air on a broomstick."

"Oh trust me," He laughed, "I will be as soon as we get home. There is no way to keep me on the ground."

"Can I fly with you?"

"Do you want to?"

"Maybe."

"Yeah, sure. Once we get home."

We flew to the nearest empty field and started to toss a ball around, like we were on the quidditch pitch.

"Brett?"

"Mar?"

"There are always girls hanging off of you. Why don't you ever go out with any?"

"Marlene. I'm only in fourth year."

"So? That hasn't stopped the rest of your year."

"I don't know.. just waiting for the right girl I guess."

"What would this right girl be like?"

"You don't think that talking to your older brother about his love life is weird at all?"

"No. Why?"

"Nevermind."

"Well answer my question then."

"Oh yeah. _The Ideal Girl._ Well..Erm.. she would like quidditch."

I slammed the palm of my hand into my forehead.

"Dude, I know you want someone that likes quidditch. That's a no brainer. You are a quidditch player. In fact, if you had the chance, you'd go pro."

"But I don't want someone who just _likes_ quidditch, I want someone _understands _Quidditch. I want someone who knows the game through and through."

"Someone pretty?"

"Um. Hopefully? I still think it's weird talking to my little sister about girls."

"Relax, brother. I'm trying to help you here. You need a love life."

"Whatever you say," he responded, rolling his eyes.  
"So, what you don't understand, dear brother of mine, is what you want is right in front of your eyes."

"You are my sister. Not a potential partner."

"No, Brett." I slammed the heel of my hand back into my forehead, "I mean the quidditch team. There are three right there, Muraer, Recca, and Gary. Come on, Brett, I know you aren't stupid. Why didn't you realize it sooner?"

"Mar, the team is a family. I can't snog my sister, as I have already explained to you."

"And is that how everyone else sees it? Thats why the Ravenclaw captain and chaser are dating?"

"They are?"  
"I don't know."

"Then why did you tell me they are?"

"To prove a point."

"And what, sister, did that prove?"

"Absolutely nothing because you didn't believe me."

He rolled his eyes again.

"Listen, Brett, you never know until you try. Every wizard gets rejected at least once in their life. It will happen, you can't be afraid of it. If the girl considers you as her brother then that's ok. She'll say so and you won't have to go out and feel awkward about it. And you know what? There won't even be that rejection-awkwardness stuff cause you're all a team and you all work together. You'd be close again in no time."

"Gee, well that makes me want to ask a girl out.. You sure wouldn't last a minute as a relationship counselor. You can't talk about rejection before I even ask someone out."

"So you'll ask one of them out?"

"_NO!"_

"Whyyyyy?"

"I told you, we are like a family."

"Be a man. Snatch them up while there's time. Listen, I'll never admit this again, but you have a real power over girls. They all look at you like they think you're a god or something."

"I have that much power over girls?" He asked, awed, subconsciously flipping back his hair.

For the third time that day, I slammed the palm of my hand into my forehead. I was going to have a massive bruise there later.

"Have you not seen your multiple fan clubs?"

"I have a fanclub?"  
"Yes! Well.. no. Not a fan-club per se, just a shadow of giggling girls."

"Wait! I thought that Hogwarts was just filled with giggling girls."

"Nope. They just follow you everywhere. You're just the stereotypical teenage boy, not noticing things past the tip of your nose. Trust me, Brett, you can get any girl you want. You just have to try for her."

"You're not lying to me are you, Mar?"

He was warming up to the idea at last. SUCCESS! "Why would I spend all this time fibbing?"

"I do not know the ulterior motive! You're Marlene Mckinnon! You _ALWAYS_ have an ulterior motive! In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had ended up in Slytherin."

"Hey! I would _never_ be in Slytherin! and not this time, Brett. I'm actually trying to help you, no matter how strange and odd that sounds. I'm actually trying to be a nice sibling for once."

"You know, the house rivalries weren't always this bad. Slytherins didn't used to be completely horrible."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."

Little did he know that I _did_ have an ulterior motive. I just wanted him to have a girlfriend so his giggling fanclub would start leaving me alone and stop asking me about his love life.

**Lily**

I just couldn't stop thinking about him, no matter how hard I tried. It was crazy. Until I realized I liked him, I had no problem keeping him out of my head. It was just that Remus Lupin was absolutely _perfect_ in every single way. Everything he did was perfect, everything he said, everything he wore. I loved everything about him.

Well, maybe not love. I was definitely infatuated. I just couldn't stop thinking about him. He was stuck in my head, no matter if I wanted him there or not.

"What's the matter, Lily?" Petunia taunted me, "did someone use magic on you to make you stare off into space?

"Shut it, Petunia." It was like that every time I had a faraway look in my eyes.

I couldn't go a day without thinking about him, and every time I did, a queasy feeling came over my stomach. It would twist into knots and start to gurgle.

_Come on, Lily. You need a distraction. What can you do? _

I decided to go visit my dear friend Severus, someone who my feelings were completely platonic for, and someone who I knew had nothing but completely platonic feelings for me in return.

"Hi Lily," He said as he opened the door.

"Hey, Sev."

"What's up?"

"Bored. Petunia won't stop teasing me."  
"Does she ever?"

"No," I responded sullenly.

"So what do you want to do today?"  
"Exploding snap?" I asked.

"Sure," he grinned. I guess he was glad that I would be playing one of his games with him. Usually he was with me, doing something in the muggle world.

We walked into Sev's house, me waving a 'hello' to his mum.

"You guys should play gobstones, not exploding snap," she suggested, grinning.

"You weren't eavesdropping on us, were you?" Sev asked, suspiciously.

She grinned, good-naturedly, "You know, I was captain of the Gobstones Club when I was at Hogwarts."

Sev rolled his eyes, "Yes, mum, we know."

"Well actually," I added truthfully, "I didn't. Sev, your mother's right, why don't we play gobstones? I've never played."

"There's a reason for that, Lily. You don't want to play that game."

"Do I sense a challenge, Sev?" I asked him, earning a smile from his mum.

"Come on, Lily, I'll teach you how to play," she told me.

"Ok! Sounds great, Miss Eileen."

Returning to my house from Sev's, I realized that it had been a very welcome distraction. Nasty liquid covering my face was not my idea of an ideal day, but it sure took my mind of things. Especially boys. I was hopeless. The sooner I was over this crush, the better, but a crush was not something you could just 'get over.' I had tried. There was no way this was going to work out. No way at all.

**Marlene**

Brett really seemed to ponder our my words. I wonder if he considered dating any girls yet. _Well it has only been about a week._ Maybe I should go ask him, give him some more sisterly advice. _But what if he suspects something? It's best to let it go. _HMmm. Maybe I'll send a quick owl to Leigha. After all she is really nice, and meets Brett's only standard. She likes quidditch. So much in fact that she can't go a day without playing it.

If I had to write a list of girls my dear brother Brett would get along with, she would be in the top five.

_Hey Leigha,_

_How's your summer been? I hope everything is going well! We should definitely hang out sometime after our winter break ends. How bout we meet up at The Three Broomsticks the following weekend _- Wow thanks ink bottle. Way to run out on me! I threw it across the room and looked around till I found another one. Unfortunately, I didn't have an extra, which meant that I had to go ask Brett for one.

"Oi, Brett!" I yelled towards my brother's room across the hall from mine.

"What?" he clamored back.

"Got any ink?"

"Why would you want ink? Don't you have any?"

"I ran out!"

"Why do you even need the ink?" he questioned as he strode over to my room.

"Ummm..." I quickly rumpled up the paper in my hands and hid it behind my back. "Would you accept homework as an answer?"

"Mar, what's behind your back?"

"Oh this?" I showed him the rumpled up piece of parchment. "It's edible parchment you see?" I showed the paper into my mouth. "mgghm, deligisuos,."

He just shook his head at me and left before returning with a new bottle of ink. "Here ya go, sis. Go back to eating parchment?"

Finally! He was gone! I could get back to writing the letter to Leigha! I took out the parchment out of my month. _Eugghh. Saliva! _Oh. Ink. That's right. Well, time to go wash my tongue so I don't die a poisonous death before tomorrow comes around. That is if it hasn't gone inside my system already. Someone should rush me to St. Mungo's. I think I feel the effects of death coming upon me.

"Are you going to actually use the ink or are you going to stand there inspecting your tongue in front of the mirror?" came the voice of my brother from the doorway. Oh. The ink. Leigha. Oh.

"Umm. I think I may need to go to St. Mungo's. My tongue might have accidentally absorbed some ink..."

"I thought you said it was edible?"

"Oh. It wasn't?"

"Oh. Well you're a goner sis!" He joked.

"It's not funny, Brett!"

"Of course it is! Why do you think mom bought us edible ink? She knew somewhere down the line, one of us would try to eat ink. When you were little, you used to put everything and anything into your mouth."

"Oh. Thanks for causing me distress oh great brother of mine! And why isn't our parchment edible?" I asked as I slapped him on the head.

" Owww! And I don't know! Ask mom! I think they were all out of stock when we got ours. Anyway, who were you writing to?"

"No one." I said a bit too quickly.

"You sure? Your reply was a little quick. You sure you don't have a boyfriend?" He teased.

"Believe me, you would be one of the first to know of my love life, if I even have one that is. I was just sending a letter to Lily." I lied.

"Okkkk." He skeptically raised his eyebrows. "Whatever you say, Marls. So are you going to use the ink to write to "Lily" or can I take it back to write a letter to Carter?"

"Fine! Let me finish writing my letter first."

"Ok. Just give me my ink back when you're done."

Finally. Where was I?

_How bout we meet up at The Three Broomsticks the following weekend... _That's where I left off! Now what was I going to write before my bottle decided to run out? Oh that's right!

_How bout we meet up at The Three Broomsticks the following weekend at around 11:00? We can catch up and get some Butterbeer. It feels like I haven't talked to you in ages (even though its only been one week). But first Hogsmeade weekend of the New Year! I'm so excited! Are you? Well, we have much to discuss, friend. Anyway, see you tomorrow at Hogwarts! Can't wait! _

_With love, Marls_

I went to go find my owl Jace, named after a muggle book I found at the library while visiting Lily's house.

"OI, BRETT!" I shouted. "Have you seen Jace by any chance? By the ways here is your ink." I walked into his room returning his ink to him.

"Your owl? No clue. Last time I saw him, he was flying around the house. Maybe you could go outside and search for him there?"

"Ok. Thanks!" I walked out the door and trekked outside onto the paved road outside our mansion. I don't really like to brag about where I live but it is glamourous. "JACEEE!" I called, hoping the wind would pick up my voice and reach my owl. Just as I had hoped, Jace came and landed on my shoulder with a content hoot. I slipped him some food from my pocket and attached the letter. "Take this letter to Leigha Muraer, alright?" I whispered in case my brother was spying. With a soft hoot, he was off into the sun ridden sky. Now all I have to do is wait! This was going to be fun!

**Sirius**  
James was the best listener I had ever encountered. I guess I should have known. He was my best mate. Of course he would listen.

James was totally silent for a long time. He had asked questions and learned more about my family than I ever thought anyone would know. For a while, I thought he was asleep, but I then noticed he was staring at the moon in the sky. I needed time to organize my thoughts and realize that I was not alone here. There were people that cared and would listen to my thoughts. On second thought, it was probably just lack of sleep talking.

"Sirius," James asked cautiously.

"Yes?" I asked in return, anticipating more family questions.

"What you were saying earlier, about Remus, what if it was something else, something more unbelieveable."

"Like?" I prompted.

"Well... don't laugh."

I looked at him with disbelief. He had just lived through the painful retelling of my family history. He thought I was about to laugh at his suggestion?

"Sirius, promise you won't laugh," he tried again.

"Ok James, fine, only for you."

"Well, here's what I was thinking, and it seems to fit. What if Remus is a werewolf?"  
I had to admit. James really took me by surprise there, and Blacks aren't known for being surprised. However, one thing Blacks are supposedly good at was hiding their emotions. I guess I called on my dear old family talent to keep from laughing. There was no way Remus was a werewolf, was there?

James looked at me through the dark and started to explain, "Sirius, you know how we always thought that it was weird that he disappeared once every month? I just connected it now, but the last time he disappeared, the moon was full. I'm pretty sure the moon is always full when he disappears because we always see the moonlight streaming into his empty bed."

"That's true. How could we not have noticed that earlier?"

"Maybe because werewolves are..vicious.. and Remus is not."

"I guess-JAMES!"

"What?"

"I just realized.. the boggart.."

"Merlin, you don't think.." It was dark but James' face had definitely become whiter.

"The moon," I breathed. It was true, it had to be. Our best friend was a werewolf. Our mellow, kind hearted friend was a vicious, bloodthirsty beast.

**A/N: Really sorry that it's so short guys, but... school.**

**Thank you to our loyal readers, and to those just starting to read! You don't know how much it means to us! Anyway, those wonderful readers that always review-THANK YOU! you know who you are! The rest of you, honestly, it means so much that you're reading, but can you please leave a review as well? It helps us know what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong! If there are any major plot points you don't want to see us miss, please let us know in the reviews, we'll make sure to include it! Our plan for this story is to go as close to cannon as we can, filling in the blanks. There shouldn't be any major changes until the sequel we write to this.**

**~R**


	10. Confessions, Meetings & Troublesome Boys

**Chapter 10:Of Confessions, Meetings, and Troublesome Boys**

**A/N: Due to our failure of a certain subject and our need to bring up our grades, updating may become less frequent. Sorry in advance and please don't be shy and leave a review below! Thanks. 3 (~M)**

**Disclaimer: Sorry if you haven't gotten the memo yet, but we are not J.K. Rowling. Therefore, we do not own Harry Potter.**

**Sirius**

James and I lounged on the front lawn of the castle, near the whomping willow, watching the idiots try and touch the trunk. Not all the people that try to touch the trunk are idiots. It just happened that today, the group there were no brighter than our house elf.

"So what are we going to do about Remus?" I asked James

"We will have to confront him."

"And you think he'll take that well?"

"No. But what other choice do we have? We have to protect him. Werewolf or not, he's our friend and we would never try to hurt him."

"I guess you're right, James. What about Peter? Do you think he should know?"

"He'll get curious."

"But do you think he could keep a secret?" I asked him.

"I think that no one would expect him to know any sort of secret. He is the ultimate keeper of secrets."

"I guess you're right. Hey, speak of the devil-"

James turned around to see Remus coming up behind him, Peter a few feet behind.

"Hey guys!" Remus called, smiling broadly at us.

"Remus, Peter." I nodded at them.

They sat down next to us and I shot a look at James. He nodded.

"Listen, Remus," I started.

"Yes?" He asked me, looking confused.

I paused and looked off at the tree. Davey Gudgeon, a fourth-year Hufflepuff was trying to touch the knotted trunk.

I looked at James for help.

"Remus, we have a serious question to ask you-"

"LOOK! THE TREE!" Peter interjected.

We all turned to stare at Davey getting walloped by the branches. This was worse than we had ever seen the tree behave. It must have had enough of pesky children.

"Davey!" We heard one of his friends yell.

"I'll go get Professor Dumbledore!" Another one yelled.

"No need," came a voice from across the lawns, "I'm already here."

He shot some sort of spell at the trunk of the tree and the branches froze.

Davey slipped out from under the branches, looking pale and beaten up. There was a giant gash circling around his right eye.

"He almost lost it," James breathed, "his eye, I mean."

Dumbledore stepped in front of the tree and made an announcement.

"No student is to go near this tree. It is off limits now to everybody."

Dumbledore walked towards us and with a twinkle in his eye looked at Remus.

"We do make special accommodations."

Remus paled.

"You haven't told them?" Dumbledore asked, astonished.

Remus shook his head, not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

"I think they have proved themselves worthy of your trust, Mr. Lupin."

Remus looked up at the headmaster and nodded.

Professor Dumbledore walked away, and Remus turned toward us, looking like he had no idea where to begin.

"It's ok, Remus, we already know," I assured him.

"No. It's not what you think... I-" he faltered.

"No, Remus," James started, "we know you're a werewolf."

"HEY! I NEVER KNEW THAT! Why hide all the good secrets from me, eh guys?" Peter responded, oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

**Remus**

_I can't believe they know. I can't believe it. I hid it as well as I could and never gave them any reason to suspect me of being.. not entirely human._

_ The mouths on those two. I can't believe they know but the rest of the school doesn't. In fact.. wow.. not even Peter knows._

Still. I couldn't trust them to exercise good caution. I couldn't trust them to keep their mouths shut. Ever. They may think they were talking just to me, but the Slytherins sneak around everywhere. Who knows what one of them could do with my secret. I just couldn't risk it. I had to stay away from my friends. My only friends. The only friends I've ever had.

This week was different from the rest of third year. It was after the holidays, and the teachers seemed to all of a sudden realize that the end of the year was almost there. All of a sudden, they felt the need to pile more and more work onto us, threatening us with exams looming right around the corner.

It was not hard to keep away from my "friends" at all. In fact, they seemed happier without me. It was easy to avoid all conversation at meals when I had a book in front of me. They obviously found it as an excuse not to talk to me. In classes, I focused entirely on the teachers, not once getting distracted or sharing a look with Peter, Sirius, or James. I would excuse myself early from dinner and trudge my way up to the common room, alone. I would sit at the least comfortable table, farthest in the corner and start on my homework, putting myself to bed early once I finished. It was very easy to avoid contact with the people I thought really cared about me. Too easy.

I had just finished my charms essay when I looked over to where my friends were sitting. They were joking and laughing, as usual, as though they did not have a care in the world. Which they didn't, now they were done with me.

I scanned the rest of the room and noticed Lily looking at me, confused. I guess we had been making a scene. It was not hard to notice that one of the four biggest well-meaning troublemakers Hogwarts had seen in about a century had broken up.

After one of the longest weeks in my life, it was finally the weekend. Peter went down to the Quidditch pitch Friday night to watch James and Sirius practice, and I went to bed early, the first to leave the common room on a Friday night. I wondered what I could do all weekend.

Saturday morning I awake amidst excited whispers. It was a Hogsmeade weekend. Everyone was going to Hogsmeade. Who was to say that I couldn't enjoy my weekend as well.

I stepped into the Three Broomsticks, the bell tinkling above me, hoping for a nice warm butterbeer to take off some of the chill from outside.

"What would you like, m'dear?" A young woman asked me. Her name was Madam Rosmerta and she appeared to be right out of Hogwarts herself.

"One butterbeer please," I told her, walking over towards a table.

I watched her as her glittering heels stepped behind the counter.

Soon, I heard very familiar laughter. I looked a few tables down and saw James and Sirius guffawing at something one of them had said and Peter dutifully laughing at every little thing that could be construed as a joke. Good old loyal Peter, the least likely to betray me. I missed them all so much. I never thought that Peter, of all of them would stop talking to me. I guessed he just got too obsessed with following James and Sirius around. In fact, that's all he was. A follower. Peter Pettigrew would do anything for anyone more powerful for him, out of duty. Out of friendship. And maybe even out of fear.

The clicking of heels alerted me to the fact that Rosmerta was coming back with my drink.

"Thank you," I told her, paying for it.

She followed my gaze over to the table occupied by James, Sirius, and Peter and headed over there to check and see if they needed anything.

I looked down at my drink, not even looking up when I heard Rosmerta laugh heartily at something Sirius had said. Although I did not care to admit it, I had many memories of coming in here and having a great time with the four of them, Sirius, James, Peter, and Rosmerta. She was a delightful young woman, always ready with a laugh or her own joke, a category in which she almost matched Sirius in.

Sipping my butterbeer and feeling bad for myself, I did not realize that someone was approaching me. I looked up and my stomach churned unpleasantly. It was not Peter. It wasn't even Sirius or James.

**James**

There was no week that I missed Remus more. I could see him every day, but he avoided us at all costs, being completely antisocial at mealtime, and avoiding us at all costs everywhere else.

This is why I probably reacted so strongly when I saw what was going on.

Sirius, Peter, and I were all sitting down in the Three Broomsticks when we noticed that Remus was sitting all alone at a table in the corner.

Actually, to be honest, maybe _we_ didn't quite notice him there as much as _Rosmerta._ Merlin's pants, that lady was perspicacious. She picked up on everything and told us that the best thing to do would be to go over there and try to make amends.

That's just what we were planning to do when who but_ Nott_ and his cronies stepped up to him.

We figured we'd wait and see what would happen, knowing full well that Remus could take them in anything. After all, he wasn't as weak and helpless as Peter. But hey, we loved him anyway. Both of them.

"So," Nott was saying to Remus. What was an arrogant wizard like him talking to Remus for?

He continued, "Are you here alone, boy? What happened to your friends? Did they desert you?"

I could see the hurt in Remus' eyes. Nott went on, obviously pleased at the discomfort he had caused our friend.

"Ohh look, how cute. The wee 3rd years had a little fight, and now one of them is all alone. Now tell me about your fight. Where _are_ your old friends? Huh?"

"We are right here." I told him. Somehow, Sirius and I had crossed the floor of the Three Broomsticks without even realizing it. Somehow, we had moved to our friend's side, ready to protect him, even though he didn't care about us all week. To us, friendship went stronger than that. You _never_ betray your friends.

"Well then _why_ are you over there while your friend is over here?" Nott taunted me.

"Furnunculus!" Sirius cried, covering Nott's face in boils. It rather improved his looks, if I do say so myself.

"Alright, alright, Let's get you out of here," Madam Rosmerta came rushing over to us, hustling us out the door good-naturedly,"Come back again soon, all of you. Just don't fight. It's not good for business."

"You there," She continued, "with the boils. Get back up to the school. Madam Pomfrey will help you."

Nott went off, barely complaining at all. I guess a spell like that must have wounded his ego a little bit.  
I slapped Sirius a high-five, knowing that in a split second, he had come up with the best hex he could.

Madame Rosmerta turned back to us, "Now, just because you are my favorite little customers does not mean you are getting off the hook for this one. Listen here, if you make up with Remus, I'll speak to the headmaster and see to it that your punishment is not as great as boil-face no doubt wants it to be. Dumbledore is fair, and he will not punish you so hard if he knows you're provoked. But, if i hear that you have not had that nice little chat with your _FRIEND_**, **I may forget to let the 'provoked' part slip."

Remus! I had almost forgotten about him. He was the reason we were in this mess anyway. In fact, he was the reason _he_ was in this mess, too. Oh wait.. That's almost always the case.

Rosmerta smiled and let the three of us be, Peter coming up to join us.

"Listen guys," Remus looked at each of us in turn, "I am really sorry for what happened this week. I know I acted like a Slytherin, but please forgive me. Seriously. I avoided you because i was stupid. I was not used to anyone knowing my secret, and to me, it seemed like it should stay that way. I thought that I had to distance myself from anyone that could possibly know, why should i change something that works, after all? I am really sorry for all the times i avoided you guys. Thank you so much for standing up for me today even though i acted so badly. It made me realize that i can't just cut myself off from the world, no matter how much i try. It is something I have been struggling with ever since I got to Hogwarts. Maybe now it won't be so bad. Maybe now I'll have people to confide in, and and I can feel better about myself."

"Mate, it's all good. You're forgiven," Sirius assured him.

"And all the times we ignored _you, _we should have really made an effort to try and start up a conversation. Really. It's us to blame."

"I appreciate it, guys. I really do. You three are all too good for me. Thank you."

"No problem, Remus," I said to him, flashing him a grin.

"GROUP HUG!" Peter called out.

Laughing, we all hugged it out in the middle of a crowded bar in the middle of January.

**Marlene**

Lily and I were walking around the front lawn, shivering in the cold, when who did we come upon but the famous pranksters, the Potter Pals.

"What's up, ladies?" James asked Lily. Why wouldn't he ever leave her alone?

"Nothing much. You know. Freezing. Like everyone else," I answered him after realizing that Lily was too scared she'd make a fool out of herself in front of Remus.

"Hmmm..." Answered Sirius, "Freezing? In this weather? Nah."

"Well," I replied back to him, "I guess that only decent people feel a slight chill."

"Well then I guess you're only pretending to be freezing!" He countered my jab.

"Come on guys," Remus was dragging his friends away by the arms.

"Yay! Food!" Sirius randomly shouted out of know where as heard Lils inwardly sigh with a dreamy look on her face aimed at Remus.

"Get yourself together Lils! I'm pretty sure you don't want everyone to know you fantasize about a certain brown haired cutie pie."

"But, but, but have you seen him? What's not to dream about?" She continued to stare after Lupin. I shook her a bit and dragged her inside the castle before we both froze our butts off.

"What's wrong with Lily?" asked Benjy coming up behind us with Emmeline at his side.

"Lupin." I muttered so that our conversation was inaudible to the rest of the Hogwarts population. "C'mon let's get back to the common rooms." We trudged back dragging a disgruntled Lily behind. Four guesses who we ran into in the common rooms? I facepalmed while Emmeline and I dragged Lily up the stairs while Benjy chuckled retreating back to his dorm.

"Hey, Emma, how the heck do we get Lils over here to snap out of her moony eyed self?"

"Simple. Watch and learn." I watched as Emma muttered 'aguamenti' and cold water pummeled Lily's face.

Lily spluttered, "What. Was. That. For?"

"You've been in a daze lately and everyone has noticed."

"Oh was I that obvious?"

"Were you ever!" I interrupted Emma's and Lil's conversation.

"Some friends!"

**Peter**

Now that Remus' secret was out in the open, James and Sirius felt like they had to do something about it. They couldn't just leave it be like Remus had asked.

They wanted to find some way to keep Remus company while he transformed. They knew it must have been a very lonely existence. The two of them were really good friends. I knew they would always be there for me, no matter what. The two of them, though eccentric, were incredibly loyal.

The only problem was that once Remus turned into a werewolf, he completely lost his head. He told us he could think almost rationally about lots of things. Just not when humans were in the topic. Which, considering everyone he knew was a human, was kind of hard to (insert word here... like blow-off, ignore, not find.. idk it's some word that i cant find right now).

James and Sirius refused to give up, though. They would not rest until they found out a way to help our friend. That's why I think they're so great. They are perfect in every way, and as long as I am their friend, nothing can hurt me. They will always protect me.

**Sirius**

Days upon days of research and we still hadn't figured out a way to accompany Remus on his monthly escapades. We were spending so much time on our research that we were falling behind in our classes. Well, that was our excuse for our grades at any rate. Quite honestly, the grades didn't matter too much to us anyway.

Since the library was completely foreign to us, we didn't know where to start. We couldn't even ask _ for help, otherwise she would be on to us. We couldn't even start pulling out books about werewolves because others would see what we were researching about. Life was hard.

We finally realized that we could sneak up there at night with James' invisibility cloak while no one was watching. This way, we could read and not be in fear of someone discovering Remus' secret.

"Sirius, you oaf,"James whispered to me one night while we were up in the library. For some reason he was under the impression that I could not sneak around like the little fairy he was.

"Shut it, James."

"I think we actually need to think about this, Sirius. That's how we figured out he was a werewolf after all. We put together our very strong, intelligent minds and figured out our friend's dangerous secret.

"But mate, the only thing we can ever think about seriously are pranks."

"So, young Sirius, we will just have to make this a prank."

"And how, old James, will we do that?"

"Hey. I can't come up with all the great ideas?"

"Well," I was starting to come up with an idea, "These so called 'pranks" that we do always end up with the teachers getting mad at us, right?"

"Err.. I suppose so."

"So, I guess that's what we need to do. Come up with something that will make the teachers irate, right?"

"Maybe?"

"You don't think this is a good idea, do you?" I asked James.

" works."

"Well, what would make the teachers completely insane?"  
"That would help us with werewolves?"

"Mate, I don't know."

"So we basically need to do something to make McGonagall throw a fit?" He asked me.

I looked at him with glee, "Wait! McGonagall! What did we learn about werewolves?"

"That has to do with McGonagall?" He was confused.

"Yes! Well.. er.. no. Sort of?"

"Sirius, you make no sense."  
"What is the one living thing that werewolves don't go crazy about?"

"Fungi?"

"NO. Animals."

"OK.. but McGonagall?" How thick could James be?

"She can transform.. into an animal. What if we could do that?"

"Ok.." He was catching on now, "One problem. How can we do that without a tutor?"

"We could ask McGonagall."

"Are you insane? McGonagall? You think she would help us with this?"

James had a point. Sadly, we couldn't talk about it anymore. A small meowing sound echoed around the hallway. _Mrs. Norris_. That kitten was horrible. It was bewitched. It had to be. That thing will live for years, it had been a kitten for years already.

James threw the cloak over us as we made a run for it.

We stumbled around the hallway, trying to escape the furious caretaker and his loyal kitty.

We bounded down the stairs, heading straight for the dormitory. Suddenly though, I couldn't move anymore.

"What the-" I spluttered.

"Oh, come on. Not the vanishing step," James muttered under his breath.

He yanked me up by my elbow, pulling me down the rest of the staircase.

**Marlene**

Today was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the New Year and we all knew what that meant. Yup! It was time to meet Leigha at the Three Broomsticks.

"Hurry up, Lily! You too, Emma!" I attempted to get both of them out of bed. "It's our first Hogsmeade weekend!"

" Bed. Warm. Comfy." Lily sleepily murmured.

"That's it! I have an important meeting to attend and I am not going to let you guys slow me down!" And for the second time in two days, Lily was once again doused with water.

"Some friend you are, Marlene Mckinnon!" Emma cursed letting out her now soaking golden locks from her ponytail and rising out of bed.

"Finally!" I muttered as a tired Lily went to the bathroom yawning and muttering under her breath about that 'toerag Potter.' We quickly exited the dorm only to find Potter and his posse lounging on the couches.

"Oi Evans! Alright there?" Potter called out.

"What do you want, Potter?" She retorted scathingly.

"What's gotten into your knickers?" Sirius quietly voiced.

I watched as Remus nudged him with his elbow. "Shh!"

"Thank you _Remus_! At least one of you has some sort of sense." Lily smiled flirtatiously at Remus.

"Uh.. thanks, Lily?" Remus said uncomfortably as I chuckled into my palm.

"Hey! We have a first name too!" Potter stated while glaring daggers at Remus.

"Well sorry _Potter_ if the only people in your little group that I can stand are Remus and Peter."

"Love you too, Evans." Sirius sullenly muttered.

"C'mon Lily! We have to get to Hogsmeade!" I grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her out into the corridors.

"Where exactly are we going?" Lily asked.

"The Three Broomsticks. I told Leigha to meet us there."

"Ohh. Leigha! I love her! She's so nice."

"Yup."

"OK why exactly are we meeting here there?"

"Must you ask so many questions, Lils? And you'll see soon enough. Hurry up." I said to her staggering form.

"Actually I want to go Tomes and Scrolls and buy a new book. I'll meet you at Honeydukes later, ok?"

"Cool." I said to her retreating form while making my way to the Three Broomsticks. I scanned the room and found Leigha sitting alone in the corner. "Hey!" I waved at her as I got to her table.

"Hey! So what did you want to discuss?"

"Well you know my brother?"

"Brett? Yeah I know him. He's on the quidditch team. And I must say he does look pretty nice with all his quidditch gear on and the way his hair flows in the breeze. I'm sure you didn't want to hear that, did you?"

Oh this was going to be easy. "Really? You notice all that about my brother?" I wrinkled my nose just for effect.

"Yeah. How could you not? He's one of the best looking guys in this school."

"Would you say yes if he were to ask you out?"

"Wait, is he single? And of course. In a heartbeat. He's also nice and funny as well, not to mention quite athletic."

"Yeah he's single."

"Do you think he would mind if I ask him out? I've been wanting to be more than friends with him for quite a while now."

"Oh. How long have you liked him for?"

"Since our second year. He just has this charm to him."

"Go right ahead."

"You really mean it? You won't mind? Being his sister and all?"

I chuckled, "Not at all."

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem! You wanna walk with me to Honeydukes to meet up with Lily?"

"Sure. All of my friends are catching up on their homework but I finished ages ago, so I have nothing better to do."

"Let's go then."

"Lead the way Mckinnon!"

My plan was in action and those bratty girls would finally leave me alone and stop asking me for details on my brother's love life. Life was good.


	11. 3 RIP James and Lily Potter 3

**Chapter 11:**

**A/N: We are updating today in honor of Lily and James. **

**After all, October 31st is not just Halloween.**

** -R**

**Brett**

The sun was shining bright and I had no classes after lunch, so I decided to head on over to the quidditch pitch to practice my moves.

"Ummmphh," came a voice from a heap of limbs on the corridor floor. Lost in my thoughts, I had accidentally bumped into someone, and consequently knocked them askew.

"I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" I rambled as I saw who was on the floor. "Oh hey Leigha! " All of a sudden, I had an unbearable itch at the back of my neck; I reached back to scratch it, "So what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Oh ya know. enjoying the break and all. I was going to get my broomstick so I could practice quidditch."

"Ooooh cool! That's where I was going, too! Are you up for a one-on-one game?"

"Sure! Want to come with me to get my broom?"

"I would love too!" I was ecstatic. My sister wanted me to spend more time around Leigha; I would spend more time around Leigha. And, we wouldn't be in some coffee shop either. The weather was perfect outside, the wind blowing just right and not a lot of sun. Perfect day for some quidditch. And, while I was thinking about it, Leigha wasn't all that bad-looking either.

We kicked off the ground, ready to throw a couple pitches at each other without the annoying duo, Potter and Black, around to mess things up. Maybe I would end up getting as close to Leigha today as my sister wanted me to.

I flew over to her, hearing her mutter something about her hair being 'poofy.'

"What was that?" I asked.

"Let's play some quidditch."

I was focused on the game. So was Leigha. In fact, we were so focused that we didn't see my little interfering sister down in the stands. We didn't see her nod to herself in approval. We didn't know that she was already thinking up rumors to spread about us.

By this point, I wasn't just focused on the game; I was focused on Leigha, too. So focused, in fact, that when I went to get the quaffle from her, it didn't go so well. Somehow, we ended up crashing.. and falling to the ground.

Together.

Tangled together.

In an uncomfortable and embarrassing position.

But, we didn't notice because we had been knocked unconscious.

We didn't notice when my sister took incriminating pictures either.

We woke up in the hospital wing on separate beds. I looked across the room to see Leigha glaring at me.

Well this was just wonderful. Women and their temper. Best to get it over with as soon as possible.

"HiLeighaIAmSoSorryIDidNotMeanToCrashIntoYouPlease Don'tBeMadAtMe."

"What? Brett are you ok? I can't understand a thing you are saying," She looked at me, looking quite concerned.

Well this was a change. She wasn't glaring at me.

"Yes, I am ok. But I thought you were mad at me cause you are a woman and you were glaring and women have tempers."

Instantly I knew I said something I shouldn't have. I guess she was like my sister, who didn't like gender stereotypes.

Now she was glaring, and boy was that a glare.

"Well, _Brett,_ I'll have you know that the reason I was glaring was not because of you, though it was rather stupid of you to just stop in midair. I was glaring because Madam Pomfrey force-fed me a disgusting potion."

Sure enough, as if on cue, our school nurse came to my bedside with the potion Leigha must have been talking about.

"What's wrong?" She asked Leigha, noticing the glare, "The potion was necessary, I'm afraid."

"No, Madam Pomfrey," Leigha answered her, "It was McKinnon. He decided to call women moody."

Madam Pomfrey gave me a stern look but didn't say anything.

Then, as she was tipping the potion into my mouth and Leigha was pointedly looking away, she told me, "If you want to charm a girl, that is not the way to do it."

I looked at her in surprise.

"Your sister showed me the pictures."

**Severus**

POTTER! HOW DARE HE! I have to serve detention because of him! At least I will still have Avery and Yaxley there. I mean first he "accidentally" trips me in the hall and then he makes fun of there while my future GIRLFRIEND (aka Lily Evans, aka most perfect girl in the world, aka love of my life, aka future wife, mother and bearer of young Julius) is standing right there. Like Potter could you not? Besides Lily likes me, not you so suck it Potter! Ahem. Ok so Potter landed me in detention because a teacher saw me trying to hex him in the corridors. That's right "innocent" Potter slipped right out of detention once again! Oh how I hate that boy and his friends! That Black is no exception. He just sat there laughing that maniacal laugh of his while saying "Is that the best you can do?" How dare he taunt me. Now I'm stuck cleaning the trophy room this Saturday with those buffoons, Avery and Yaxley, instead of attending the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. But on a more serious note, Lily thinks that I shouldn't be hanging out with all my Slytherin "friends" because they are a bad influence on me. I mean I see where shes coming from since we have a "Dark Lord Rising to Power, What Shall We Do about It" meeting now and then. Ok the Dark Lord is terrible plus he smells terrible because of his lack of nose. I mean I've always wondered how he has no nose. Was he born without a nose? One will never know. Except I think that Dumbledore headmaster guy knows. Don't even get me started on his beard or the fact that he looks like he's 80 years old. How am I supposed to concentrate in the Great Hall if his blue eyes are sparkling behind those half moon glasses and that mile long beard? It's like he knows all of my thoughts about a certain redhead who I'm going to marry in the future. But enough about that old man, I have to head on over detention now to possibly scrub the trophy room. I saw Avery, Yaxley, and that giant of a man, Hagrid waiting for me.

"Now tha' yer here, we have a big job ahead of us."

Well, looks like our evening will be spent cleaning up thestral dung in the forest. Sigh.

**James**

The only way to get the book we wanted was to go to the restricted section.

However, there was some reason that we, the responsible third-years we were, were not allowed to go in there unattended.

For some other reason we did not understand, there were no books on becoming anamagi in the normal part of the library. These people just did not understand education.

That, or they did not trust us. Probably the latter.

The easiest thing to do was to sneak into the restricted section late at night and read the books we needed while the castle was asleep. So, that was what we set out to do late one night. Sirius, Peter, and I, that is. Remus had elected to stay behind because all of us wouldn't fit under the cloak. Also, he didn't like to have as much fun as us. Apparently there was a test the next day, and Remus seemed to think he needed to get good grades to graduate or something...

I opened the creaking door to the library, moonlight cascading down the shelves of books. It was almost the full moon. Once again, Remus would be alone for his transformation. That just made it feel more real. even though we couldn't help him this month, we could make it so we can help him in the future.

I picked up a book at random off the shelf in the restricted section. I opened it and it let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

"Well that's just wonderful," Sirius remarked dryly.

I closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. It was still screaming. I felt bad for any future kids of mine that would ever have to deal with books like this one.

"Maybe we should go," Peter muttered to us.

Sirius and I exchanged a glance, "Nah," I replied, "We are invisible. What could teachers do to us?"

"Nothing," Peter responded resolutely.

We kept looking around the restricted section, trying to find the right book.

"Hey, look at this!" Sirius remarked.

"Did you find anything useful?" I asked him, hardly daring to believe it.

"NO. But, I did, however, just figure out that these books are organized by topic."

"Really? So pulling out books at random isn't helping?" I asked him. Granted, some of these books had really interesting diagrams in them. I was enjoying reading through them. Wait. Enjoying? Reading? Together? No. It must be because it's late. My conscious mind would never put those words together in a normal sentence.

"No, James. I guess it is not."

"So then what topic are we looking for?" Peter asked, his small voice barely audible over the ongoing shriek of the book. I was really surprised that Filch hadn't appeared yet.

"Well, we can look up books having to do with animals," Sirius suggested.

"Books to do with transfiguration," I added in.

"Werewolf books," Sirius concluded.

"Books about changing our appearance," The list goes on and on.

"Books about running around Hogsmeade at night."

"Books about exploring Hogwarts at night."

"Mate, we can't just bring a werewolf to romp around Hogwarts!"  
"We can let him romp around Hogsmeade?"

"Good point. Hogwarts it is."

"We also need books about maintaining transfigurations."

All of a sudden, Peter piped up, "If you guys are quite finished having a good old chin-wag about books..." He trailed off as we saw a familiar busy tail creep into the library. Wherever that tail went there was always a body of a cat. And wherever the body of the cat was, the formidable caretaker was sure to be close behind. Sirius and I quickly skimmed through some of the titles of books, grabbing the one that looked the most promising. It also looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Surely it wouldn't be missed over one night.

Making sure the cloak was covering us sufficiently, we crept out of the library, me clutching the book, not wanting to lose it anywhere

**Sirius**

"Mate," I called to James after escaping into the restricted section last night.

"Yes, Sirius?"

"Mate, we can get into the restricted section now. Think of all the pranks we can pull?"

"What are we talking?" Asked Remus, his eyes lighting up.

"Remus, we never thought you would be anxious about one of our little pranks! I'm so proud of you!"

"Well, I have nothing to hide from you guys now! I can do whatever I want without worrying about you guys finding out."

James looked at him, "I'm so glad you're in! What about you, Peter?"

Peter replied, "Of course, James. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Yes!" I concluded, "I can't wait!"

"What about your little project?" Remus asked us, aware of our efforts to try and become animagi.

"We will practice soon, we just need to find the right part of the book," James assured him.

"You mean you got the book last night and you haven't even started to look for the right page?" Remus asked, appalled at how we could leave a book unread for that long.

"Erm.. Remus?" I started, "I think there is something you're forgetting about us."

"And what is that?"

"We don't read."

Remus groaned in disgust, "Then how are you going to look in the restricted section for pranks?"

"Easy," I replied, grinning, "you'll read it for us!"

"And I suppose I will be sorting through the information about animagi as well?"

I looked at Remus with mock surprise, "Well, now that you mention it, I think that's a wonderful idea!"

With another groan from Remus, we finished eating our breakfast, ready to head to our first class.

All day, Sirius and I passed notes, planning out the perfect prank... one that would prank not only the students, but the professors themselves.

Adding ideas throughout the day, we had the perfect idea. All we had to do was drag Remus up to the library, away from his homework, and get him to research a certain idea for us, one that would go down in Hogwarts history.

**Remus**

As we tiptoed out of the common room huddled together under the cloak, I again wondered why I had agreed to do this.

Although it was fun in the long term because James and Sirius always got the load of the blame, I always had doubts when we set it up.

Considering tomorrow, or today since it was the wee hours of the morning, was Friday and everybody loves a Friday, we planned to set a few of Filibuster's best fireworks off.

Sirius and James had convinced me to research a spell that would let them activate all of the fireworks at once. Luckily for them, I had come across one in my earlier reading.

"This way," James led us, "Let's get some in the Potions room."

"Wait," I paused, looking at James although he couldn't see me in the gloom, "I thought we agreed that we would be setting them outside so everyone could see the fireworks outside the windows."

Sirius quickly responded, "Well there was a change of plans. I think your idea is brilliant, James! We can put fireworks in all of the classrooms!"

I could feel James shake his head under the cloak, "I want to, Sirius, I really do, but the only reason we are putting some in the Potions dungeon is just that; it is a dungeon. It has no windows to see the fireworks through."

"Good idea, James! I can't believe you thought of that! You are amazing!" Piped in Peter.

"Thanks Peter."

Even under the cloak with next to no light, I could see how crestfallen Sirius looked. He had really wanted to wreak havoc on everyone.

"Cheer up mate," James told him, "with luck, a firework will fall into one of the potions they are brewing, with any luck spewing everyone with the potion!"

"Are you kidding me?" I asked them, incredulous, "You want someone to get seriously -sorry Sirius- hurt?"

"Calm down, Remus, they are only working on a swelling solution tomorrow! Madam Pomfrey has the antidote to that on hand all the time!" James assured me. Little did I know they were actually sixth year Gryffindors, working on Felix Felicis, liquid luck. Let me just assure you that the sixth year Gryffindors were pretty lucky that night.

**A/N: Silly M, we are not ACTUALLY failing that class... we just.. aren't happy with the grades.. at all. It's an AP class.. what can I say? And we have high standards for grades.. What's a fail? Below a 90. A C? 93-90. A B? 96-93. An A? 97-100... but mostly 100. I promise we are both not Asian. One of us might be though... HAHAHAHAH YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHICH ONE OF US THAT IS MUAHAHAHA**

**but that is why we haven't been able to update, and even now, it is a meager one at that. I a-pie-logize. I hope you accept our pies made with sincerity and love.**

-R


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